The Pharaoh Part II
by the7joker7
Summary: Pharaoh Atemu has taken the reigns of the world in his hands, leading Egypt into a time of record breaking prosperity and expansion. But his cruelty driven by anger and grief might just bring his house of cards down. Will his brilliance prevail?
1. The Greatest Empire

The Pharaoh, Part II

Summary: Pharaoh Atemu has taken the reigns of the world in his hands, leading Egypt into a time of record breaking prosperity and expansion. But his cruelty driven by anger and grief might just bring his house of cards down. Will his brilliance prevail as external forces try to drive him from the throne?

Author's Notes:

I don't intend on banging this entire fanfiction out over the next few months. I honestly expect to start it to get some feelers out on how people are receiving it, probably work on another of my fanfictions that I've left hanging for awhile, and come back and finish this some time in the future. Of course, if the reception is warm enough and I'm in the right mood, I may strike while the iron is hot and do this all in one stroke, so we'll just have to see.

This is a direct sequel to my previous finished fanfiction, The Pharaoh. You should read it before you read this one, or else you may find yourself confused. Here is the first story.

.net/s/4516437/1/The_Pharoah

These stories are a loose adaptation of The Godfather films.

If you have any thoughts on this fic, please feel free to let me know anything on your mind in the reviews or contacting me in the variety of ways available on my profile page.

Thank you, and enjoy.

""""

Chapter One: The Greatest Empire

From his vantage point on high, seated on a massive, golden, jewel-encrusted throne, Grand Pharaoh Atemu could see everything on this most glorious day.

He could see the brilliant beaming sun, high above the show set before him, blazing great heat down on everyone. The entire courtyard in front of his palace, impeccably cleaned beforehand, buzzing with thousands of people from all across the world. The great long tables of food and drink. Glinting statues made of all kinds of precious metals standing everywhere, watching the crowd move back and forth. The throng of Egyptian soldiers surrounding the courtyard, a watchful eye on everything.

A sight fitting this wonderful day.

He looked to his left and saw his most trusted priests, his inner circle, seated on thrones not quite as opulent as his, but nevertheless gold and encrusted with jewels in all form of fine pattern with a purple pillow on the seat. Moving down the line, there was High Priest Seto, the second most powerful man in the world. He had inherited the position from his father, and had not disappointed in his role. Next to him was Isis, the most powerful woman in the world, seated similarly, stoically looking the crowd over. Then there was Mahad, considered to be the most powerful link the world still had to black magic. Karim, following his father's footsteps, was next in the line of priests that he truly trusted. Shada was there as well, overlooking the great sight. Buhen even further down, the latest in a long line of family high ranking priests. A carryover from the last reign completed the procession. Aknadin sat at the end, high priest of Aknamkanon, Atemu's father. Atemu was more than content to let his father's right hand man remain on until he stepped down of his own free will or the will of the gods. Each priest wore the gender appropriate high-dress priest tunic.

He looked over to his right, to more people he trusted for different reasons. To his immediate right was his beautiful wife, Teana, seated on a giant purple pillow, wearing a a golden flowing dress and diamond encrusted sandals, with two young children in her lap. On her left knee was Ammon, eight year old Prince to the greatest kingdom the world had ever known, heir to the throne that seated the man closer to the gods than any other human. Asenath sat on her right knee, three year old Princess of Egypt. Teana had her arms wrapped around both of their shoulders, looking down at them happily.

To her right, seated on a golden pillow, was Amaunet. Atemu's beloved mother, the effects of old age beginning to take their toll on her lovely body. Deprived of a husband ten years ago, she continued to plod on, with no real royal title, but still residing happily in the palace and watching the great reign of her son. She occasionally raised her hands to wave at the crowd distantly, but otherwise preferred to lay back on the pillow.

Atemu stood up, approaching the balcony and stone fence at the front of his little dais slowly, bringing a swept silence to the massive crowd. As he moved forward, he was able to look down and view a small marble table right at the base of the raised platform he stood on.

There was the real power.

The leaders of the world sat at this table, dining and talking amongst each other. The leaders of Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Turkey, Spain, and every country and nation inbetween, along with an assortment of family members, all sat here, right at the feet of Pharaoh Atemu. Right where he put them.

Right where they could hear him.

"I love a good birthday party." Atemu said, speaking loudly so his voice might carry as far as possible across the crowd, but as always, he wanted those just below him to be able to hear. "Today's my twenty-eighth, and it's a great honor that you all could join. For virtually all of Egypt to turn out is quite one thing, but for every single king, emperor, every world leader to make a visit themselves is truly a great honor for me!"

He thought he heard a snort from the table. He chose to ignore it.

"Yes...my twenty-eight." He paused. "Ten years to the day I turned eighteen. It's still hard for me to talk too much about that day." He motioned with his right hand to seemingly nobody, but as soon as he did, the segment of stone he stood on began to slowly sink down, silently, towards ground level. "A day of brutality, bloodshed, and pain. We lost a great man that day. And we're all still paying for it. We'll all pay for it forever." The stone slab continued to descend toward the stone table below him. "Let's all continue to remember him, remember what he did, remember the evils that befell him. It's tragic that, every birthday I've ever had I've had to reflect on that. It should be a day of nothing but happiness, but even as you're enjoying the festivities today, don't forget about him." The stone came to a rest just a few inches above the ground. He stepped off onto the sand below.

"Now, I'd like to extend my thanks to the millions who have made their tributes to me already today." He stepped out right in front of the table. "So, I ask, how are all of you wonderful men and women-" he scanned quickly across the table "-going to top that? I think it's time to have a look at my presents."

Atemu suddenly stepped to his right and began to move around the table. "Although, perhaps the honor of going first should be reserved for Ramses!" Every pair of eyes followed his moments, coming up from the front of the table towards the crowd. "Ramses, the grand general of Egypt's mighty armies. He promised he had something truly grand in store for my birthday. Promised I wouldn't be disappointed no matter how high my expectations. Yes, let's see what Ramses has cooked up!" He was now in front of the table, standing alone in the gap between the table of elites behind him and the masses in front.

He looked over to his left, a sandy pathway that stretched on a good distance until it curved around the side of the palace. Everyone followed suit, looking over at the currently empty path.

A horse and it's rider came into view, coming from the side of the palace, heading down the path toward the massive party. A massive, brown stallion of a horse it was. The rider wore the traditional brown and red garb of a soldier in the Egyptian army. Behind it was a large wooden cart on wheels, attached to the horse's hindquarters, being pulled along with the steed. A blanket covered the contents of the cart, but it was clear the cart was loaded by the way the cloth had been shaped like a mountain in molding itself to cover the gift.

As soon as the procession of horse, man and cart had cleared the palace sidepath, a nearly identical arrangement appeared behind it, marching in single file toward the Pharaoh. This sight repeated itself a further eighteen times, by which time the head horse had come right in front of the Pharaoh.

The head rider dismounted into a bow before the Pharaoh. "Almighty Pharaoh Atemu! I wish you the finest birthday anyone has ever had. My men have labored hard these last few weeks, to bring you a gift worthy of your mighty stature and great power. We have all put in extra effort to bring this before you." He moved to the cart, grabbing the edge of the cloth. "Our attacks were more brutal, more furious, and faster than ever, and our marching was at a record-setting pace." He tugged the blanket off, revealing a mound of precious metals and jewels. All of the riders behind him, who had dismounted during his short speech, did the same to reveal a similar pile of glinting valuables.

Atemu quickly looked it all over. Much of it was generic golden bars, molded into blocks that were indistinguishable and unidentifiable from any other, but among those plain pieces were fancy ones. Statues decorated with jewels, staffs, jewelry, busts of famous people of the past, and many other fine treasures. He spent only a few seconds on this before turning to the soldier who had addressed him, who had dropped back down to one knee.

"This is a truly magnificent find." Atemu said. "Where ever did you get it?"

He fell silent, listening intently. And then, he had it. From the table behind him, a small voice. Young, uncultured, foolish enough to speak while the Pharaoh was receiving his gifts.

"Dad, the emerald sundial in the 3rd cart, isn't that-"

"Quiet." A deeper voice interrupted. Atemu continued to listen.

"But dad, it's got the same design, that's-"

"Shut up!"

Atemu took this chance to turn around. His eyes quickly found a younger man, his head cocked toward the ear of the older man sitting by him, just a few seats away on the left side of the table. Their heads froze as they realized they had caught the attention of the Pharaoh. He stared them down.

"Problem?" He said lightly. "This...all this isn't...yours, is it?" He said, motioning with his right hand toward the carts. "That would be very vexing indeed!" He put his left hand up to his forehead in mock drama. "Well, Homer? Is it? That'd just be so embarrassing for me."

The older man, Homer, looked the carts up and down, a cold dead smile stuck on his face as he did so. "I guess not." He wheezed, looking away from the Pharaoh and back to the table.

"Well, that's a relief." Atemu gave a short wave to his general, who remounted his horse and began to lead the procession to the right, away from the party. "You know what to do." He commented as the group slowly pulled away. "Well, then, that was a fine start. Let's go with...Kyros!" He pointed at the end of the table, on the right side, at a middle aged man. "What have you got for me?"

""""

"You're a very funny man." Homer said dryly as he roughly pushed through the beaded veil that separated the Pharaoh's private outdoor chamber from the courtyard and party outside. A relatively small enclosure of stone, holding a desk in the middle and a bookshelf in the back, the room provided a chance for the Pharaoh to take a break from the long party and give his most important guests a chance to privately discuss something with him.

"I thought so too." Atemu smiled back at the Emperor of Greece, who swept across the fairly plain room and invited himself into the seat in front of the desk. Atemu himself was sitting behind it, leaning forward on the wooden surface. "I only wonder if everyone got it."

"Do you get any joy out of humiliating me in front of everyone?" Homer hissed, leaning back in his black cushioned chair. "Out of singling me out over anyone else?"

"Everyone says something like that to me at one point." Atemu shrugged, grabbing a reed pen from the desk surface and flipping it up into the air. "The truth of the matter is, everyone's gotta their licks at some point. Trust me, I don't discriminate." He glanced up at the ceiling, confused, suddenly noticing his pen had lodged itself into the ceiling ten feet above his head.

Homer scoffed. "I knew you were going to be a difficult ruler, but I never imagined-"

"-That I'd be the finest, most ruthless ruler to ever live, expanding the bounds of my reign faster than any before me had even dreamed of?" Atemu now leaned back, no longer smiling. "The nation of Egypt has more than doubled in size since I took the position. The population grows at unyielding rates. The economy thrives. The army at my command is the finest the world has ever known. I've taken on every single other nation in the world, at once, over the past decade and crushed every opposing force thrown at me." His eyes narrowed into slits. "The combined might of every other nation in the world could barely slow down Egypt's conquests. So I fail to see anything difficult about my rule."

Homer grimaced, pausing for several seconds, glancing to his sides, before looking back at the Pharaoh. "So I'm just assuming your men sacked the city of Aenus and emptied the treasury?" He finally growled.

"That would seem to be the case." Atemu replied tartily, drawing a scowl from Homer. "You really shouldn't leave that much treasure in a city so easy to take, even I was surprised at how many carts got filled."

"I wasn't counting on Aenus falling for months." Homer grunted, again looking over to his left at the wall.

"As you can see, Homer, I'm still in control of the world." Atemu picked a small metal top off the desk surface and quickly snapped it through his fingers, causing it to start spinning rapidly on the desk, maintaining it's balance through momentum. "Nothing can stop me from doing whatever I please to this world. Don't piss me off enough to feel like I should single you out for abuse. Don't lose whatever good will you earned with your fine present."

"You think you're the first dominant world power to ever exist?" Homer said through gritted teeth. "Don't make me laugh. Some of the powerful nations of old would leave Egypt a burning wreck and you on your knees, begging for mercy. Your brutality, your cold-hearted, callous, blood-thirsty conquest through the world is the difference. The great Kings, Emperors and Pharaohs knew the value of alliances, friendship, and peace. You, young Pharaoh, know nothing but war and conquest, thinking it makes you great."

"It's like I said, Emperor Homer." Atemu replied icily, grabbing the top in his left hand. "We're all still paying for the death of my father. Every one of us."

Homer knew he had treaded as far as he could. He held his tongue, even as Atemu gave him a moment to say something stupid.

"Greece had their part to play in the events of my father's death, as did every other nation. Before you consider my brutal nature, my merciless power play for territory, and my wanton cruelty towards all you Kings and Emperors, consider your own role in all of this." He dropped the top back to the desk.

"It's not wise for you to come in here and lash me with these words, Homer." Atemu said, again leaning his elbows on the desk. "And you've been around long enough to know that." He looked Homer straight into the eyes. "You've always known to mind yourself around me. Always known that screwing with me was dangerous. What's your game?"

Homer finally gave a small smile, leering at the Pharaoh. "Your military dominance is built on two pillars, Pharaoh. Numbers, and technology."

Atemu nodded, disturbed slightly to see some genuine malice in Homer's manner.

"You'll have your numbers, Pharaoh, but your days of military technology dominance are at an end. For ten years, you've produced military equipment beyond what any other nation possessed, always keeping you two steps ahead." He coughed into his fist. "Well, the rest of the world's catching up, and I think you're all out of genius inventors."

Atemu said nothing, stonily staring at Homer, trying not to give anything away with his expression.

"Soon, we'll all be playing with the same toys. And then, even your superior numbers won't be enough. Go check the reports, the speed of your territory expansion has slowed the last few years, the effects are already displaying themselves. In a few months, you'll barely be moving at all. By your next birthday, your mad quest to rule the entire world will be forgotten, as you struggle to just keep a grip on the land you already have."

Homer stood back up, Atemu following his eyes with his.

"And then, you won't be picking on anyone. We all know this, and nothing can stop it. We're not scared of you anymore, Pharaoh, there's nothing to be scared of now. That's why I come to you on this day, and speak to you like this. Because in a few short months, the balance of power will shift, and it will have meant nothing." He turned, heading for the beaded exit to the small chamber. He stopped just before passing through the beads, turning back to Atemu. "I find your reign entirely deplorable, Pharaoh, the way you've built it on lies and deceit. It's telling that one of your greatest joys is to force all of us to attend your birthday parties every year, force us to pretend we give a damn, pretend we like you, give you some big fancy present just in the hope you don't get offended and spend the rest of the year picking on us. The way you carve a bloody path in every direction through peaceful territories and try to justify it all as some revenge rampage."

Atemu remained silent, choosing to let Homer continue his tirade and simply listen.

"I don't think I'll be attending your little party next year, Pharaoh. I think you'll have a lot on your mind by then anyway." He finally swept through the beads, disappearing back into the large crowd outside, leaving Atemu to his thoughts.


	2. Pillow Talk

Chapter 2: Pillow Talk

"Enjoy yourself?" Teana asked. She had changed into a simple, plain nightgown, laying back on her bed. The party had concluded a hour or so beforehand, and the royal family had moved to their bedroom as the sun set on Egypt. The two children had already been tucked away in their own rooms, just across the hall theirs. Since the two had first moved into this room, more than nine years ago, as an official couple, things had only become more opulent and magnificent. Artists from all over the world had thrown themselves at the almighty Pharaoh, begging for the honor of having one of their pieces to be put on display where mighty Atemu would see it virtually every day. It showed in the fine, one of a kind paintings hanging on the wall, the sculptures set on every surface to be found, and even the mudane objects like the bed, doors and bookshelf had been made to shine and sparkle with the exotic touch of value.

"Of course." Atemu said, standing next to the bed, unbuttoning his undershirt and letting it fall to the floor. "Always."

"Look on the desk." She said, closing her eyes and gesturing toward Atemu with her right hand.

Atemu looked down at the small surface just to the left of the pillow on his side of the bed and saw a large piece of parchment, a crazed assortment of color covering it. He picked it up and examined it, the colors forming the crude painting of a tall person in the middle, a shorter person to his right, and two shorter yet stick figures on either side.

"That supposed to be me?" Atemu said, pointing at the tallest one. "I need to drop some pounds."

"The kids made that today." Teana added. "I told them to give it to you before bed. They forgot."

"I'll thank them in the morning." Atemu put it back down on the desk. "I hope you're not too tired..." He slid onto the bed, eyeing her figure up and down.

"Well, let's see." She opened her eyes and rolled her head over to look at her husband, staring into his eyes for several seconds. Suddenly, she rolled back over and slid off the bed. "Fraid so." She said, bare feet touching the floor as she stood up.

"Oh. What? What?" Atemu asked playfully, pulling himself over to her side of the bed. "What'd I do?"

"You're irritable." She said shortly, tugging on the neck of her gown. "You know the rules, honey, if you go to bed upset, my legs are shut." She started to move around the bed. "I'll go sleep across the hall, you can have your fun with your harem if you insist."

"I'm not mad!" Atemu whined, watching her walk around the bed. "Why would I be mad? What could possibly make me mad? Besides, it's my birthday!"

"We've known each other a decade, dear." Teana said, stopping at the foot of the bed to look at her husband. "I can always tell. And I don't care what today is, you're a selfish lover when you're angry."

Atemu wormed his way back into a laying down position on the bed, head on the pillow, looking down at his wife. "Oh, come on, it's not that bad! I get rough sometimes, but don't give me this good little girl crap, you like it rough!"

"I like beer too, but not a whole barrel. Besides, that's not really...what I meant." She said, her eyes shifting for a split second at the bookcase against the right wall of the room, opposite the bed, before returning to Atemu.

"What? My harem? I thought we talked about this." Atemu continued to whine, folding his arms over his chest. "All Pharaohs have harems, my father had one, his father, and his father's father before him! No one mortal woman can hope to satisfy a descendant of the gods like me, you'd die trying."

Teana rolled her eyes. "First of all, oh mighty Pharaoh." She came around to his side of the bed now, standing over him with her hands on her hips, smiling naughtily. "Don't toot your own horn, you're not that good."

"See, now you're just being mean." Atemu pouted. "You just don't know how good I am because you've never had anything else."

"Second, I know full well I'm the luckiest girl in the world. That doesn't mean I'm ever going to be fully comfortable with the fact that my husband has a harem of a hundred women, all of whom are prettier than me." Teana continued, still smirking.

"Hey now, don't be so-"

"Let me finish, let me finish." Teana held her hand up toward Atemu. "And that's not really what I meant either. It's your little shows."

Atemu stared blankly. "What are you talking about?" He asked, his arms falling back to his side.

Teana sat down on the edge of the bed, a more comforting smile crossing her mouth. "Honey, you know I love you." She grabbing his right hand inbetween hers. "But you and I both know that you like to take it out on the girls when you get upset."

Atemu swallowed. "What, you feel bad for them? They're nothing. There's nothing to feel bad for."

"No, I don't want to see my husband like that." Teana said softly, holding his hand up in front of her. "It's not fun to watch. Honey, I love you, and I don't like to say this, but you're an angry person. You get angry a lot, and you take it out on the girls, and I don't want to see that. It's not fun anymore."

Teana leaned in closer to Atemu's face. He turned away slightly, looking up at the ceiling. "...I'm not an angry person." He grumbled halfheartedly. "My libido just works differently, I'm a blue-blood."

"Darling, please, it's anger. I know it's anger. You've been angry for ten years." She raised her right hand to his head, running her fingers through his hair. "Ever since...ever since-"

"Shouldn't I be mad?" Atemu said through gritted teeth. "My father was murdered over a profit line, Teana." He looked up at her. "Maybe I am mad. A mad person, more than a person should be. But shouldn't I be?" He turned back away to look at the ceiling.

"Of course." She said, still stroking his hair. "You have every right to be mad. Most people would be. But it's been ten years."

Atemu turned back to face her, glancing down at her small left hand in his larger right one.

"Ten years of warmongering, violence, revenge, anger...please don't look at me like that, honey...when can we go back to the way things should have been?" Teana flinched slightly at Atemu's glare.

"This is a sensitive subject." Atemu said simply, looking back up at the ceiling. "Even for you."

"Honey, I would never disrespect your father's memory, and these people deserve to suffer for what they did to him." Teana rushed out quickly. "But sometimes, power isn't about being strong enough to punish someone. Sometimes...it's about having people at your mercy, with every reason to punish them, but choosing not to. The first day I met you, you talked about how your reign was going to be laid back, and peaceful. You'd do whatever you wanted, wouldn't concern yourself with politics, just focus on enjoying life. That's all I want, but if you continue to beat this warpath against the rest of the world...then you'll always be this angry, frustrated person."

Atemu cleared his throat, looking back at the face of his wife. He saw some fear in her eyes, fear of pushing this too far. It wasn't unwarranted.

"Please don't be mad." She threw in meekly.

"I'm not mad at you." He finally said. "It's...it's fine that you want to talk about this, at some point I have to talk about it. I understand. And if you want to sleep in the other room tonight, I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do." He took a deep breath. "And...I'm sorry if I tend to be unpleasant to be around. But I'm not that good of man, honey. You're right. Those other nations, those who banded against Egypt and took the side of the men who killed my father...I want to grind them into nothing. I want to make them watch their precious cities fly the Egyptian flag. And I can't let this go."

Teana nodded. "...I understand too. Believe me. Now, you have fun tonight, and don't worry about me. I just wanted you to know how I feel, I would never dream of disrespecting your reign or your father."

Atemu smiled wanly. "No...no, you should never be scared to talk to me about anything." He turned over to the small desk right next to his pillow and picked a small golden bell off of it. He rang it hard a few times, then set it back down. A few seconds later, the bookshelf across the room slid to the side, revealing a long, stone passageway with a tall, muscular women standing at the newly created entrance. She took one step into the room before dropping into a bow.

"Anything specific tonight, mighty Pharaoh?" The woman asked.

"Meek." Atemu said. "I want to start the night off with an easy one to break."

"As you wish." She said, standing back up and walking back into the hidden hall from where she came, disappearing into it's mysterious depths.

"And please don't think about what I said tonight." Teana added, kissing him on the forehead. "I want you to enjoy yourself."

Atemu nodded quickly. "The...the sensitive subject thing, I'm really sorry honey. You...you're my wife, and if you want to talk to me about...about my father, then I want you to feel free to do that. I don't like to talk about it, but...but I know I can't run from it all the time."

"I can't possibly understand, I know." Teana said. "I don't know what it's like. I just don't like to see you so mad all of the time."

"Maybe one day. Believe me. I want things to be that way too. I don't want to be mad. I don't want to constantly be at war with everyone. I just...I just don't know what else to do right now."

Teana strolled over to the door leading out of the bedroom, waving to Atemu. "See you in the morning."

As soon as she had stepped through the door, the hidden segment of wall opened to reveal the muscular woman, this time holding the end of a length of chain. The chain was stretched taut back into the room from where she had come, and she entered the room, towing it with her.

Eventually, a small, young woman appeared, laying on the ground and furiously struggling, the chain ending in a large cuff around her neck. Her wrists had been attached to the neck-cuff, her hands held up in front of her face. Her ankles had been chained by a separate set of cuffs, which held her legs together tightly. The woman was, in fact, dragging her along as she fought like mad to get free and retreat back into the hidden chamber.

The girl was not of this region, an import from a distant land. Her tan skin and blonde hair made that clear. She wore only a simple white tunic that fell to just above her knees, On the right shoulder of the simple piece of clothing was a red circle with a sketch of a pyramid in the middle, the Pharaoh's insignia.

As soon as she looked up and saw the Pharaoh on his bed, looking down at her struggling figure, she instantly froze up, going limp like a dead fish, eyes widening in abject fear.

"She's very pretty." Teana commented from the door. "Enjoy." She blew Atemu a kiss and shut the door behind her.

The pair of women, currently polar opposites of each other in virtually every way imaginable, went over to the left side of the room, with the unknown little blonde girl suddenly snapping out of her fear-induced paralysis to once again tug on her neckchain with all her might as she was dragged across the room.

"And just what are you planning to do after you manage to break that chain?" Atemu asked, amused by her fruitless struggles. "Roll your way to freedom?"

She had nothing to say in reply, but did not slow her efforts to escape, pulling and tugging even harder. Within short order, however, she had been successfully dragged over to a section of the room a few yards to the right of the bed, where a pair of cuffs lay on the floor, bolted securely to the marble by very short lengths of chain, along with a small metal ring similarly bolted down.

The imprisoner pulled the imprisonee over to her roughly, taking a tiny key from a pouch on her belt as she did so with her right hand. She pulled the struggling girl over to her, grabbing her head, and pushed the key into a small hole in the neckcuff right inbetween the two wrist attachments. The circle of steel popped open on a hinge, and the small girl wasted no time in pulling her neck out of the restraining device and continuing her escape efforts.

"Hmph!" The larger woman grunted as the neck cuff fell away from the two wrist cuffs, the three circles of metal now detached, giving the prisoner a split second of freedom as her bonds separated from the haremmaster's chain. This was quickly taken care of, as she quickly grabbed her wrists and held them together, interlocking two tabs of metal on the insides of them together. She then locked the end of the chain onto the joined tabs. Quickly, as she again began to try and pull away, the haremmaster yanked her hard back toward her, then threw the chain up toward the ceiling as she stumbled forward awkwardly. The chain looped through a metal ring ten feet up, held there from a rod embedded in the ceiling, and fell back down into her grasp. She pulled it through the small metal ring on the ground, as the small girl's arms were pulled over her head. She continued to fight as eventually, she was pulled off the ground entirely, and was forced to put her toes on the ground so her entire body weight wasn't straining on her arms.

The haremmaster then looped the slack on the chain around a knob on the wall, locking it into place. She quickly surveyed her handiwork, as the small girl continued to strain her arms against the cuffs. She then bent down to her feet, removing the cuffs that held them together. Before she could start to kick, she grabbed them roughly with her right hand as her left grabbed the two cuffs on the ground. The two metal chains were quickly slapped onto her ankles, making it impossible for her to pull her legs up.

"There we go." The haremmaster said, watching as she futilely tried to pull her legs up or hands down, her body stretched to it's painless limits. "Should I get some others ready?"

"Yes." Atemu replied. "Warm them up. Surprise me." He slipped off the edge of the bed as the haremmaster quickly moved back toward the concealed chamber from where she had come. She disappeared through the gap and the bookcase slid shut behind her.

Atemu slowly came around the bed, approaching the terrified girl, still frantically fighting the losing battle of yanking on her bonds. She threw a short look at the Pharaoh, eyes wide and breathing heavily, before once again looking up and trying to pull her arms down.

"Keep your toes on the ground." Atemu said, pointing down at her feet, which were currently a few inches above the floor. "You'll dislocate your arms that way."

She ignored him, continuing to tug and pull frantically as Atemu approached her, watching her bemusedly. He bent down to the floor a couple feet away from her, not taking his eyes off her struggles, and slipped his fingernails under a floor tile. He pried it up, revealing a small black stick laying there. He set the tile aside, having not taken his eyes off the girl, who was finally beginning to cease struggling. She put her toes on the ground as well, taking the strain off of her shoulders.

The fear had not left her, however, as she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, her chest heaving as she did so. After several seconds, she dared to look at the Pharaoh as he stood back up.

"Do you know who I am?" He finally asked. He waited a few seconds for a reply, but nothing came. "I'm sure you do." He finally answered himself. "You should understand, then, that fighting is completely pointless. You escape those chains, I'm right here to put you back. You escape this room, one of a thousand patrolling guards in this palace either capture or kill you. You escape this palace, a empire of millions of people will all be alerted to find you. And no one is coming to rescue you. I answer to no one, no higher authority can come to stop me."

The girl's eyelids fluttered, as she again began to pant heavily, veins pulsing from her neck and sweat streaming down her skin.

"How does that make you feel?" He asked. He glanced over his shoulder, towards the door leading out of the room. "Are you waiting for some of your countrymen to burst through that door and rescue you? Or have you accepted that they're not coming?"

He bent back down towards the ground, reaching for the stick inside the pulled-up tile. "Many women would consider this a great honor. To allow their pain to bring me pleasure." He pulled it out, slowly revealing one end of the rod was attached to a rope, glowing a bright orange, sizzling and smoking as he pulled it out.

Panic built for the girl once again as she saw this thin piece of glowing rope emerge. Eventually, the Pharaoh stood back up and pulled it out entirely, revealing a small hole in the bottom of the floor cavity from where the string had been pulled, smoke rising from that tiny gap. She then noticed, fear engulfing her further, that the rope was, in fact, several ropes. Inspite of all warnings, she couldn't help but begin to frantically pull on her wristchains as she realized that the contraption the Pharaoh held in his hand was a whip, the business end of which was heated to scorching temperatures.

"Just between you and me, though, I always prefer it when they don't." He said, raising the whip behind his shoulder, lashing the burning hot rope towards her back.

""""

"I assure you, any reputable source will vouch for the security of our vault, you can read all about the general specifications of it, and anything you put in there will be perfectly safe. But we...typically, anyway, don't let people into the vault. When you think about it, it's really part of the security of it, that people don't see it." Panhsj insisted, glancing over his shoulder toward the back end of the building, behind the row of desks where the door to the vault was positioned. He turned back to face the prospective client.

"What do you think I'm gonna see?" Thoth persisted on, seated on the opposite side of the desk from the teller. "Listen, I'm sure the security here is great, but there are a ton of banks in Egypt. I could walk a few blocks east and find one, there's one not too far south, I'm just trying to compare security."

"If I may be perfectly honest, sir, bank heists are an outdated myth in Egypt right now. Any half-decent vault is more than enough in this day and age. Even the most crazed criminal minds know it's suicide to try and break through a bank vault. I can assure you that your money and possessions will be perfectly safe with us." Panhsj soothed. "But letting people into our vault just isn't something we do."

Thoth slowly started to nod, then shrugged. "Well, I suppose you're right. Crime's so low right now-"

The front doors to the bank, thick and wooden though they may have been, were suddenly splintered by a fiery explosion, sending small shards of wood in all directions near the entrance of the building, as well as slamming massive slabs of wood down on the tiled floor. The roar of the explosion, as well as the clatter of wood chunks hitting the floor, filled the air as smoke billowed into the large room. The handful of people still inside the bank at this fairly late hour immediately threw themselves to the ground as the entire building shook.

Almost immediately, human figures swooped through the smoke, wearing tight black clothing that covered virtually their entire bodies. Two of them went to either side of the door, where security guards had fallen after being knocked from their positions. In simple, fluid motions, they pulled out small steel blades and stuck them into the backs of the two fallen and disoriented security guards.

More burst into the room as the customers and employees of the bank began to look up and try to figure out what had happened. The two that had offed the guards jumped up, running into the center of the room, as the other six black figures swept across the room, jumping up onto desks and scanning the entire room.

"Stay on the ground!" A voice boomed. Suddenly, a ninth figure entered, this one much more traditionally clothed. A tanned, white haired man ran through the smoke, wearing a white and red robe. He continued to run across the room, towards the back of the chamber. "We've already killed twice, our sentences if we're caught won't be any more severe if we kill a few more!"

Indeed, none of the denizens of the bank dared to get up, remaining on the ground in whatever position they had landed. The mysterious man ran across the tiled floor towards the back, jumping over desks as he did so, haphazardly knocking various items to the floor as he did so.

The eight cloaked figures watched him as he hurdled the desks, every now and then casting their eyes about to make sure nobody stirred from the ground. Commotion from outside the bank was beginning to fill the air, as people began to realize the protector of their valuables and riches had fallen under attack.

The white haired man hurdled the final row of desks in the back, landing on an elderly, bald, mustached man. Without a second thought, he simply stepped over him and walked up to the vault.

"You're mad." The man on the ground coughed up as the robber reached into the folds of his robe, not taking his eyes off the steel vault. "Five units of Egypt's finests will be here in sixty seconds. Enjoy your dark cell, assuming they don't just execute you immediately." He coughed.

Paying the elderly man no attention, the thief pulled a small vial of a green liquid out of his robes. Pulling the cork out of the top, he dipped the index finger of his right hand into it. He then emphatically pointed at the top hinge of the vault door. A vicious explosion suddenly ripped through the hinge, causing yet another cacaphonic crash to sound through the bank. In short order, he pointed at the middle and bottom hinge as well, causing similar explosions, as the final one caused the heavy steel barrier to fall forward, sending a ringing clank as it hit the ground.

Immediately, the eight cloaked figures abandoned their posts and swept towards the now vulnerable goods stored in the safe room. The chaos outside the bank was building even further, as the three extra explosions only further confused everyone.

The eight men quickly ducked into the newly opened chamber, as the ninth tucked the vial back into his robes, turning around to face the main room of the bank.

"Good luck explaining this one to the authorities." He remarked, smirking down at the elderly man on the ground.

"Thirty seconds." He retorted, even as he couldn't help but stare at the man's right index finger. "And you've just barely entered the vault. How pitiful."

Behind the thief leader, the eight henchmen began to quickly sweep the piles of gold coins on the floor of the steel, sterile room into large sacks. He turned to watch them for a second before shouting "Fifteen seconds!"

He turned back to the old man on the ground. "I wouldn't worry about that." He again reached into his robes with his left hand. The old man blanched slightly, fearing he had opened his mouth one time too many, but the hand emerged holding only a golden coin. "I always tip quality customer service representatives." He remarked as he flicked the coin out of his hand, sending it spinning through the air.

He turned back into the vault, as the eight had filled a few sacks with golden coins successfully. He nodded shortly at his men, then pointed at the back wall of the vault, opposite the previously destroyed door, with his right index finger.

An even larger explosion than before rocked the building, threatening to send it crashing down on everyone, as the thieves somehow managed to blow a hole straight through the steel walls of the vault, leading right outside the bank and back out into the streets. As soon as the smoke from this new explosion cleared, the eight made a break for the breech, shoving their newly acquired riches through the gap along with their bodies.

The leader, however, returned to the vault door entrance and looked out, as a squad of egyptian soldiers burst through the ruined entrance of the bank, armed with short swords and sprinting toward the vault.

He looked up at the ceiling, directly above the center of the room. A massive chandelier hung there, swaying slightly from the previous explosion in the vault. Sparkling fake gems hung from golden rims, the intricate decoration suspended only by a golden chain. He pointed up at it, and with a much smaller eruption, the chain had broken, sending the heavy ornament crashing down.

The front rows of the squad realized what was happening too late, as they slipped and scrambled in a vain attempt to avoid the massive falling chandelier. It slammed down into the ground, crushing several unfortunate soldiers under it's massive weight. Gemstones were sent haphazardly in all directions, as the guards further down the procession fell back and threw their hands up over their faces. The crash echoed down many streets, confirming to even those a great distance away beyond any doubt that something had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

It was several seconds before the surviving soldiers managed to get their wits about them and jump up, but of course, the thief had disappeared through his escape route, gone from the immediate vicinity along with his eight men and four large bags of gold coins.

More Egyptian forces piled into the room. There were many wounded, others outright dead, that had to be tended too. Others began a search party for the thieves. A few more began to question those present on what exactly had happened. It all moved very quickly, with military precision.

It was only several minutes later that the elderly man behind the final desk row stood up, shaking his head. He stumbled over to his desk, where the gold coin that the thief had tossed landed. It still lay there, similar in size and shape to common egyptian currency but quite clearly of a different make.

He bent down over it, glaring at the engraving on it. Indeed, this one proved to be very alien when compared to the simple pyramid on their currency. A human-like creature had been impressed onto the coin, with strange horns jutting out the sides of the head. Massive wings were unfurled from the back of the beast, a smaller pair from the hips. To complete the strange picture, a muscular and sculpted chest ended with the head of a snake emerging from the lower stomach.

The elderly man may have been a banker, had been all his life, but he had once upon a time paid attention in mythology class, and he knew he had seen this creature before. Not often, not so much as to drill the nature or meaning of it into his mind, but a few times. There could be no doubt that, whatever it may have meant or signified, the coin beared the likeness of Diabound.


	3. Trouble In Paradise

Chapter 3: Trouble in Paradise

Priestess Isis shivered slightly as she pushed the door to the Pharaoh's bedchamber open. A contrast to the otherwise spotless and sparkling floor, right in front of the High Priestess lay a pair of broken women. Two of Atemu's harem, laying on top of each other, sullied the floor with blood from the cruel wounds all over their bodies. Both had been whipped to within an inch of their lives, a skill Pharaoh Atemu had learned over the years at the cost of dozens of slaves he pushed too far. She knew that they had probably been forced to whip each other. Forced to beg to be whipped more. Forced to submit entirely to the Pharaoh's will, to become subhuman, to become nothing but shells of women who were only vehicles to entertain the Pharaoh.

The first was a small, pale woman from a distant land, but the second particularly struck Isis for looking very much liks Isis herself ten years ago. Perhaps not shockingly so, there was no shortage of Egyptian woman who looked like her. But as she slowly looked up toward Isis with big, puffy eyes, tear-streaked cheeks, and sweat matted hair, Isis couldn't help but see herself in her. She was doubtlessly an Egyptian, yet Atemu brutalized her for his entertainment all the same. Isis thought for a moment on her childhood. Daughter to an obscenely wealthy diamond miner and a world-renowned theater actress. Rubbing elbows with nobility and royalty at every opportunity. The discovery of great magical potential at the uncommonly young age of five. Idealized training in priest arts from the very best since then. What if she had been born to a bricklayer or petty thief? What if nobody had known who she was growing up and her potential had never been found? Nothing but a beautiful face and flawless body that caught the eye of the Pharaoh. Would she have been the one on the floor, barely alive right now?

She shook off the thought, stepping into the room and ignoring the two whimpering girls. Atemu looked up from the bed lazily, five other women on the bed, curled up nude around him.

Isis blushed a hard red, standing at attention and attempting to maintain her composure even as Atemu waved with his far hand at her.

"Typically, one knocks at a door when they want to make sure the other person is decent before coming in, Pharaoh." Isis said, clasping her hands behind her back.

Atemu looked around the room slowly, then back at Isis. "I'm not entirely sure I'll be decent for a good few hours." He replied. "I can only assume this is important?"

Isis fought the urge to roll her eyes as the haremgirl on Atemu's left started to lightly rub Atemu's forehead with her fingers. "Yes. A most troubling development. Just minutes ago one of the largest banks in Egypt was robbed, the first in decades. Millions of debens were stolen inspite of the breast-best attempts of the authorities." She went another shade of red, trying her very best to look at the Pharaoh and not at the five concubines surrounding him, impossible though that may be.

Atemu shrugged. "Were they insured?" He asked stupidly.

"Ye-yes!" She said, slightly more irately than she should given who she was speaking to. "Pharaoh, this was the first bank robbery that even got as far as the vault in over three decades!"

"How'd it happen?" Atemu asked, as the other women began to stir.

"There's an officer in the throne room, ready to give you all the information and particulars." She nodded. "At your earliest convienence, Pharaoh."

Atemu opened his mouth to reply, but instead glanced down towards the foot of the bed. Two of the girls had slid down his body and started to give him foot massages. Atemu looked down at them, smiling.

Isis grunted, not budging, staring at Atemu. The Pharaoh, however, was sufficiently distracted as the one on his right foot seductively put his little toe in her mouth.

"You girls have such skilled mouths." He said slyly. "We must do this more often. Especially that thing where you-"

"Pharaoh!" Isis blurted out, drawing looks from all six people on the bed. "Please!" She exclaimed, eyes closed in frustration.

"Alright, alright." He said reluctantly, pulling his feet away from the two girls even as they groaned disappointedly. Isis quickly left the room before he could come out from under the blanket and further embarrass her.

A few minutes later, the Pharaoh emerged wearing a white silk shirt and purple cape with golden shorts and brown slippers. Isis nodded, refusing to let any emotion cross her face as she turned around and led him through the Pharaoh's office.

"Thank you for understanding that this is a serious matter with severe implications, mighty Pharaoh." Isis said flatly.

"You are so mean." Atemu said unevenly. "Why are you so mean?"

They came to the threshold leading back out into the hallway. Isis stopped and turned around to face the still awakening Pharaoh. "I apologize for...being mean." She finally settled on, still letting no emotion cross her face.

Atemu laughed. "What? Are you scared? Do you think I'm going to flog you? Break your fingers? Stick you in the brazen bull?"

Isis stared blankly for a few seconds before turning back around and walking out of the room, Atemu on her heels. As soon as he emerged, he glanced at the door right across from his, then back at Isis. Smirking, he strided over to the door and quietly pushed it open. Isis spun on her slippers and glared hard at Atemu.

"Pharaoh!" She hissed. "We have an officer waiting!"

Atemu shrugged. "Get him something to eat!" He turned back around and quietly ran across the carpeted floor towards the massive bed in the far corner.

He nimbly crept onto the bed towards the distinctive lump on the near side, the head of Queen Teana poking out at the top resting on a satin red pillow. Atemu placed his hands on either side of her head and his knees on either side at her hips. He bent his head down and kissed her on the forehead. She stirred as Atemu pulled up, then went back down to kiss her nose. She murmured, pulling her arms upwards out from under the blanket.

"Whaimeit." She mumbled as her arms reached up to wrap around Atemu's head.

"Uh-oh. Someone needs a wakeup." Atemu teased, grabbing the edge of the blanket by her head and pulling it back. He pulled it back to her waist, then grabbed either side of her stomach and started squeezing lightly.

Teana immediately gave a loud laugh and started clawing at Atemu's hands, trying to reach down and protect her ticklish sides. Atemu squeezed several more times, forcing more hysterical laughter from his wife, before releasing her sides. She slapped up a few times at Atemu's arms, still giggling, before sitting up and kissing him on the lips.

"You're up early." She said after pulling back. "Did you already exhaust your entire harem?"

"Still working on it." He grinned wolfishly. "Thought I'd see how you're doing."

"I was sleeping." She leaned back on the pillow. "There's not a ton of room for doing good or bad there." She turned her head to look out the massive window to her right. "Is it even midnight yet?"

"Just barely." Atemu responded, turning around to look at Isis, who stood just outside the room, back turned, hands behind her back. "Apparently something serious happened and my attention is required." He too turned to look out the window at the small courtyard just behind the secondary royal bedroom, built there specifically so that the room could have some kind of a view even though it was placed in the middle of the palace. He noticed one of the window panes, near the top of the wall, had been popped out. "Was it really that hot in here?"

She glanced up at the gap in the window as well, blinking rapidly. "Oh, I...I didn't do that, I didn't even notice..." She trailed off.

The smile slowly melted off Atemu's face as he put the pieces together. He was positive that the window pane had been there for years. There was no reason for anyone to pop a panel out for temperature related reasons since there were far more efficient ways of cooling down a room. And nobody should have been here recently since it was a room only used on occasion. He grabbed Teana by the waist and roughly pulled her out of the bed, jumping to his feet and running madly for the door.

Isis turned her head just in time to jump out of the way of a frantic Pharaoh, holding his queen out in front of him who had her head twisted around looking back into the bedroom. Isis glanced into the room as well in confusion just in time to see a green bolt flash into the room through the window, hit the bed, and erupt into metallic green flames.

Immediately, the bed was consumed by the eruption as Isis threw her right forearm up over her eyes and Teana turned her head back around. Atemu felt the shockwave as the pulse from the eruption rattled the palace, dropping to the ground and dragging Teana down with him. The magical fire expanded menacingly, consuming the entire room's contents in flame.

Isis extended her right hand out towards the eruption, palm wide open, then slowly began to fold them in towards a fist. As she did, the offending green fire began to contract down into a sphere of smaller and smaller size. Atemu and Teana looked up at her as she slowly worked to contain the magic, not saying anything for fear of breaking her concentration.

Finally, as she made a fist, the ball of magic had shrunk to approximately the size of her fist. This sphere fell to the ground, resting on the now singed and burned carpet, rendered harmless.

Teana panted a few times before laying her head back down on the floor, closing her eyes as she continued to breath. Atemu, however, jumped up, his eyes hardening. He heard footsteps behind him and turned just in time to see a platoon of soldiers running down the hallway. The first several ran past him, into the now mostly bare room. Two bent down by Teana, asking if she was okay. Another stood before The Pharaoh, another before Isis.

"Almighty Pharaoh, are you alright?" The guard asked quickly, looking him over but not daring to reach out to touch him.

He nodded quickly. "Our assassin must still be here!" He shouted, looking into the room where the guards had spread out to investigate.

"Pharaoh, please follow me!" The guard insisted. "There may be another attack on the room, we have to get away from here!"

Atemu, however, marched right into the ruined room, across it to the window. Now, all the panes had been shattered, the glass shards several feet down in the sands below, along with wood splinters. He looked down at the mess below before turning his head up to look around at the small courtyard and the walls surrounding it.

"Sir, please!" The guard insisted, running up behind him. "We can not protect you here!"

"I didn't see it." He muttered, looking in every direction. "Where could it have come from?"

"The sky." Teana croaked from the doorway. Atemu and the guard turned to face that doorway, where Teana had gathered herself enough to look up from the floor back into the room.

"What?" Atemu asked.

"The bolt went through the open window pane." She said weakly, still panting. "It hit the bed. It must have come from the roofs, maybe the sky." With that, her eyelids fluttered, and inspite her best efforts she passed out. One guard picked her up at the shoulders, the other at her knees, and they began to gently transport her away.

Isis stepped into the room quickly, a few feet from the window, and bent down to pick up the small glowing orb. Her big eyes glared hard at it as she turned it over in her hand for a few seconds, then she pocketed the small ball.

She turned to the guard who had attended to her, who had dutifully followed her into the room. "Lead the way." She said shortly. The guard complied, marching out of the room with Isis trailing by two steps.

The guard who had followed Atemu looked at the Pharaoh pleadingly. Atemu considered him for a second before turning to one of the other soldiers who had entered the room.

"You heard her." He said, his face red and his tone dark. "Check the roofs. Lock down the palace. Nobody leaves. I want the assassin alive."

"Yes Pharaoh. We'll do our best." The soldier replied, nodding, but Atemu reached out to grab the collar of his jacket and pull him closer.

"Alive!" He insisted. As quickly as he had grabbed the man, he let go, then turned and started walking back towards the door. The guard quickly scrambled to take up a march in front of him, nearly being run over by the irate Pharaoh.

""""

"She would have been incinerated in the blink of an eye." Atemu said, his voice low and flat, his eyes not wavering from their staredown with the opposite end of the room. He was seated at the front of the small table of the inner circle, a room tucked away deep in the palace, hidden from untrained eyes, sealed from all potential intruders. The table, once round, had been altered to a rectangular one, The Pharaoh sitting at the head and the members of the inner circle sat, four to one side and three to the other. "There would have been nothing anyone could have done."

"I have already spoken with security." Seto, seated at Atemu's immediate right, said. "They do not believe anyone could have gotten onto the roofs by way of climbing without them knowing. They also do not think it possible that anyone could get to the roofs from above."

"And yet here we are, Seto." Atemu said, his eyes still not moving. "My wife. The Queen of Egypt. She sleeps in there."

Isis, seated at his immediate left, took her turn. "This attack was not natural." She reached into her robe's pocket and pulled out the green orb. "I know the theory and history of it well enough to be sure. This is black magic." She rolled the orb down towards Mahad, across the table. "It's quite stable and harmless now, but there's no mistaking it."

"There hasn't been a recorded use of black magic in a hundred years." Mahad said as he stopped the ball in front of him. "The art has been lost to history. No one knows how to use it."

"You're free to come up with an alternate conclusion, Mahad." Isis said. "But there isn't one to be reached."

"My kids go in there sometimes." Atemu said, still locked in a staring contest with the opposite wall. "They play with their toys in there. It could have been them. It could have been any of us."

He was distracted by the sound of heavy panting to his right. He looked down in that direction to find a girl holding up a golden tray of fruits toward him, the tray trembling as she shook in fear of standing so close to the Pharaoh. She was small with long black hair and lightly tanned skin, eyes downcast and on her knees as she held the tray up to Atemu's armrest.

He reached out to grab a grapefruit from the tray, then looked back to the table. Karim was now speaking.

"The attack...the attack on the bank. Reports indicate the robbers used strange and unnatural powers, and descriptions of the attack are consistent with the use of bla-"

Atemu pounded his left fist down onto the table, silencing the room and drawing complete attention to him. As he did this, he squeezed the grapefruit in his right hand into a juicy pulp, sticky juice squirting in all directions, with the poor slavegirl catching the brunt of the shower.

"Don't you people get it?" He yelled, dropping the grapefruit skin to the ground. The girl obediently made to pick it up, then slowly shuffled away. "MY CHILDREN!" He roared. "MY WIFE! This isn't acceptable! This shouldn't be a possibility! This attack was meant to land as we lay asleep! IN OUR BEDROOMS!"

"Pharaoh-" Seto tried to begin but there wasn't any chance of stepping in now.

"I didn't make Egypt the most dominant world power in centuries so I could sleep in fear." He hissed out to his inner circle. "If I can't go to bed at night. If my family can't go to bed at night knowing they're safe and secure. Then someone isn't doing their job."

He felt something brush his right hip. He looked down again, where the terrified slavegirl had been mopping up the grapefruit juice with a towel, and had just now made the slight mistake of trying to towel off the slightly sticky wet right side of Atemu's shirt.

Without much thought, Atemu lashed out his right hand, backhanding the girl right into the right cheek, sending her to the floor and skidding a few inches toward the far wall. A welt developing on her cheek even as she landed, the room couldn't help but wince as it happened.

Atemu glared at her for a few seconds, as the girl lay there, looking up at him with a terrified glare if there ever was one, not even daring to breathe or budge an inch. Finally, he looked back at the table, and the girl scurried back into the corner of the room.

"My deepest apologies, Pharaoh." Seto said, his voice level. "You are correct. If the royal bedrooms are not well protected, the security isn't good enough. I will resolve this issue, I swear it."

"We're damn lucky." Atemu hissed. "You don't even know the half of it."

Shada cleared his throat. "Someone's challenging our power." He nodded to himself. "Someone's gotten their hands on black magic and thinks it's enough to take on the Pharaoh. They performed a bank robbery and assassination attempt on the Queen at the same time. There's no reason for that, unless you want to send a message."

"We have a traitor." Atemu added. "Someone removed that window panel. They wanted a clear shot at the bed. If the bolt hit the window there's no guarantee of success. Someone on the inside popped the panel to give a guaranteed killshot. I want this person found as well."

To his great shock, he heard the panting again to his right. He looked down to find the slavegirl, kneeling once again, holding up a golden, jewel encrusted goblet filled with wine. So much was her trembling the wine threatened to spill over the lip of the cup. She had even forgotten herself and was staring up at The Pharaoh with massive, fear-filled eyes.

Atemu pulled his right hand back up, folding it in towards him. The girl closed her eyes, but knew if she attempted to move away and make him miss, it would only be worse for her.

As Atemu was about to uncoil his arm towards her cheek again, Seto reached his hand out and distracted him. "Please!" He dared to say, drawing a glare from the Pharaoh. "She's...she's doing her job." He finished meekly.

Atemu glanced back down at her, who continued to look up into his eyes for a half-second before remembering herself and looking back down to the floor. The wine continued to threaten to spill as she could not control her trembling. Atemu continued to glare down at her, his hand ready to strike. Finally, he lashed it out, but instead simply ripped the cup from her hands and pulled it in to take a drink from it. The girl looked up in disbelief, eyes still wide, mouth slightly agape and sweat pouring from every pore on her body. After a second's confusion, she dropped down into a full bow, putting her forehead against the floor and remaining there even as she continued to tremble.

He set the goblet on the table violently, then looked around. "Find this assassin. Find the traitor. Bring them to me alive. It's that simple." He nodded. The rest of the table followed suit, then all stood up.

He looked back down at the quivering girl, then grabbed her by her long black hair and pulled her up, a most terrified look still plastered on her face. "This little brat heard everything, now that I think about it." He pulled her up to eye level with him, as she squirmed in pain from his rough pulling. "We ought to at least cut out her tongue, I've had quite enough with traitors in my reign."

Seto swallowed hard. "She's been conditioned. From birth. She's incapable of being anything but entirely obedient to the Egyptian Royal Family."

Atemu glared at her for another half second before dropping her back down. "I will retire to the secure room." He said. "When I awaken, I expect some answers."


	4. Mana

Chapter 4: Mana

For an eight year old girl, Mana knew far too much of pain. The Egyptian sun scorched her skin on a daily basis, with no shelter offered to her much of the time. The boiling sands scalded her bare feet with every step she took through the streets of the slums of Egypt. Her stomach never ceased to complain that it wasn't receiving enough food or drink. Her bones ached from years of physical exertion unfair to someone of her age, as she spent countless hours running a cruel gauntlet in a desperate attempt to find just enough to survive.

She was crouched down in the shadow of an alley between two buildings that housed single room living quarters, peeking around the corner at a carpet salesman seated at a booth along the side of the street, eating a lunch of fish, bread and dates. He was very nearly done, and Mana patiently waited for him to set the remains to the side and resume selling. She figured she could at least scrape some morsels off the fishbones, and there was always a chance he would leave a few bites of bread or a couple dates.

This wasn't her first dance with the carpet salesman. Just a couple weeks ago she had tried to snatch the leafy stems from his lunch of turnips, seeking some tiny nourishment from the remaining bits. She had been caught that time, the salesman saw no benefit behind establishing a precedence of letting people dash into his booth and take anything. The man chose to take the matter of justice into his own hands, wrapping the small girl up in a wool blanket and leaving her out to bake in the sun. She sweated out a cruel hour in the wooly bonds before being released. However, when you were as hungry as Mana was, you tended to have a short memory.

To her dismay, the man finished his bread and dates. However, the fishbones he threw over his shoulder, towards the alley. As the man turned to look out at the customers, Mana decided the time had come, and skipped out into the booth's display area.

She skidded to a halt in the sands just short of the bones, snatching them up in her right hand before sprinting back the way she came. A pit in her stomach, she didn't dare to even turn to look behind her. She knew that if the man had spotted her, her small legs wouldn't carry her very far in a race against his fully-grown frame. The fear of potentially spending the entire afternoon wrapped in a prison of wool and sweat at her back, she sprinted across the sands as she never had before, making a sharp right turn down the alley separating two parallel streets.

A few buildings later, she dashed back to her left, then finally kneeled to a stop in the sands, panting heavily, as she came out into the street on the other side. Catching her breath, she turned back toward the alley to find no one behind her.

Swallowing hard, she turned back to the fishbones in her hand and quickly began sucking the remaining meat from them. It wasn't much, but she had long ago learned to take nothing for granted.

It took only a minute for the bones to be completely cleaned and discarded back into the alley. Perhaps taking only half a second to savor her victory, she looked around in the busy streetway. There was always another opportunity at hand somewhere in this city, a chance to get enough to live another day, and she constantly looked out for it. She could beg for coins, her adorable features always drew a little something from sympathetic crowds. Perhaps offer her services to carry something or clean something in the hopes of a reward. Or perhaps...

She grunted in annoyance at a quartet of boys about her age across the street, all wearing clothing that identified them as extremely impovished slumrats like her, nothing but a slightly longer loincloth to guard their modesty. She wore a similar loincloth along with a white sack that had been cut into a makeshift shirt that went to just below her hips. Two of the boys were pretended to fight each other in the streets, doing a convincing job of faking true violence. The other two were skillfully picking the pocket of a bystander, so distracted by the fight he didn't even notice the prying fingers in his pockets.

She rolled her eyes, even as jealously rose up in her chest. How she wanted to join their little con gang, how she longed to prove herself amongst the boys. The takes were much more organized, fun, and more importantly profitable. Even as she insisted she knew the streets and how to manipulate them as well as any other slumrat, the boys would either ignore her or stick their tongues out at her, unconvinced that a girl could add anything worthwhile to their little scams.

Her attention was snatched away, however, as an especially large carriage rolled down the street pulled by six enormous horses. She looked up at the giant cart, jumping to her feet in preparation. It was magnificent, a purple orb with gold trimmings criss-crossing it and rubies shimmering on the wheels. The entire street had fallen silent to gaze on this marvel, as it stopped right in front of Mana.

Mouth agape and stomach tying into a knot, her survival instincts told her to run like mad back into the alley, but her feet wouldn't obey. Was she in complete shock? Had fear rendered her unresponsive? Was she hoping to perhaps pry a ruby from the wheels of the carriage when no one was looking? It was hard to say. But she would not have made it far, as the door to the carriage quickly popped open to reveal the contents.

Her knees turned to jelly as she spied the inhabitants. She knew nothing about the world outside of survival in the slums, but even she knew the Pharaoh when she saw him. Massive, colorful hair, staff of gold with sparkling emeralds at the top, shining silk outfit...it could be no one else. Across from him in the cabin was someone she also recognized as the Queen, the beautiful and elegant Teana, dressed in a golden flowing dress of beautiful simplicity. There were others, but she had seen enough. Now, her survival instincts took over again. She looked down to realize she had already fallen to her knees without her even realizing it, so she bent her back down, planted her forehead into the sand, and closed her eyes.

The sands were boiling, scorching her face, but she didn't dare budge. Her knees, shins and feet also complained, but she ignored it, knowing that the wrong move by a mere fraction of a centimeter could result in torture and death. She figured she would remain here for a few minutes, until they passed, just to be safe. Surely they'd only spend minimal time here-

"Hello miss." Said a soft female voice from right in front of her. She felt her heart jump up into her throat, then start to pound at a thousand miles a minute. Who was that? The Queen? What an absurd thought, the Queen taking a second out of her time to talk to someone as low on the food chain as her. And yet, she dare not look up, for in the highly unlikely event it was the Queen, the slightest offense toward her would result in untold punishments.

"Are you alright?" The sweet voice followed up, as Mana did nothing but start to tremble. "You must be uncomfortable, the sands are burning."

Slowly, Mana started to tilt her head upwards. Surely no member of the royal family, or indeed anyone worth her supplication, would pause to ask her if the sands were burning her skin. However, all her eyes found was the hem of the golden dress and diamond laced sandals. Her heart went into overdrive, and she was sure it was going to blow a fuse. She buried her head back down into the sand, hoping against hope that the Queen had not noticed her offense or would forgive it.

"It's alright." The voice said, which Mana barely heard over the pounding in her ears. "Here." She heard a faint flapping sound to her right but did not dare move. "Please, it's okay. You can look." She said soothingly.

Her mind raced. On one hand, it could be a test of her obedience and respect for royalty, a test to see if she would take the bait for failing to show the required respect to them. But why would anyone bother to test _her_ of all people? She also realized that, if the Queen's words were not a direct command or order, they were effectively a request, and no slumrat who valued his or her life failed to fill a royal request.

Slowly, bracing herself for a blade to fall on her neck as she, did, she lifted her head up inch by inch. Still quivering at an alarming rate, she again spied the dress hem and feet of the Queen, then slowly guided herself up her crouched body until she saw her gentle, smiling face. She didn't dare lift her body up an inch more, her head uncomfortably craned up to look at the Queen.

"Please." The Queen said, pointing to the ground on Mana's right. She tilted her head over, shaking her sweat-matted brown hair out of her eyes. A red, satin blanket had been laid out right next to her in the sands. "There's no need for you to burn your legs on my behalf."

Mana swallowed hard, feeling the sands bake her knees and shins. Her mouth very nearly watered at the prospect of getting to lay on the sheet. Quickly, she shuffled to her right, careful not to raise any part of her body up more than a foot above the ground. It was heavenly! As she came to rest on the satin, she feared she might never be able to tolerate the boiling sands again on her skin. It was so smooth and silky on her legs, she thought she might be eternally content to remain there forever. She had forgotten what it felt like to not be constantly in discomfort. She stuck her forehead back down into the ground, on the sheet, her mind racing with wonder at why the Queen would take even a split second of interest in her well-being.

"There. That's better, isn't it?" She said. "What's your name?"

Her heart pounded even harder. A direct question? She was being asked to speak before the Queen? Was the Pharaoh standing behind her? She hadn't noticed, her focus was so taken in by the Queen when she had looked, but dare she speak in the presense of the Almighty Pharaoh? Yet, it might be a worse offense to fail to answer a question, so she cleared her throat.

"Mana, Queen Teana." She croaked out.

"Mana?" The Queen repeated. "Well, Mana, how are you today?"

A new streak of fear suddenly struck her, and in a panic words began to flood out of her mouth. "Oh, a-a-almighty Queen, a million apologies! I c-c-c-confess! Please, f-forgive me, I was crazed from hunger and stole the fish! P-please, take pity, I swear I'll never steal anything ever again s-so long as I live!" She babbled, shivering as if she was resting on top of a massive block of solid ice, bracing herself for the Queen to grab her hand and a blade to sever it as punishment for her thievery.

Her pupils dilated and her entire body went numb when she felt a soft hand grab the fingers of her left hand, and she then shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the cut.

"Shhh..." The Queen soothed, holding her hand up to her face. In shock, Mana glanced up at the Queen's face as she took her tiny hand up to her face and kissed her fingers. In complete shock at this turn of events, she stared up at the Queen for a few seconds before remembering herself and sticking her forehead back onto the sheet.

"You're not in any trouble." The Queen said to the horribly confused little girl. "We're not here to hurt you. I promise. Please, sit up, I promise you will not be punished."

Another direct request. Even as a little voice in the back of her mind told her to stay planted right there, she slowly lifted her torso up. Her knees remained firmly planted into the ground, until she was asked to stand, but her face did come up to meet the Queen's. She made a quick glance around the Queen, and could not help but gasp in shock as she came to spy the Pharaoh, standing there and looking at her with amusement.

The Queen gave a light giggle at her reaction. "Well, Mana, it's nice to meet you." Mana remained frozen in place, not even wanting to chance a nod. "Please don't be frightened, we're not here to hurt you." The Queen glanced behind Mana, her focus taken by something in the alley behind her. The Queen smiled. "Looks like someone's looking for you."

Her stomach dropped. The carpet salesman must have caught up to her. Would he insist that she be punished for stealing the fishbones? Would the Pharaoh be forced to uphold the law of his land? She turned her head around to look down the alley, expecting to find the salesman and preparing to beg for forgiveness.

Instead, she found a much more settling sight. Her mother stood there, frozen in confusion, mouth agape as she stared at the scene. She shared Mana's tanned skin and brown hair, and wore a similar outfit of a loincloth and modified sack. Her eyes, however, were smaller and slanted, a contrast to Mana's large, round, and expressive ones.

As the unlikely trio looked at the middle aged women, reality struck her and she too fell to her knees, forehead planted in the sand. Teana smiled. "I see where your beauty came from, young Mana." She said. "Miss, please come forward." She called out.

Like a crab, the woman crawled forward, dragging her forehead through the sand as she did so. After a few seconds, she came to a stop where Mana had lay a minute ago.

"And your name?" Teana asked, crouching down in front of the woman.

"A-asenath." She stuttered. "Almighty Pharaoh, Almighty Queen, p-please. W-w-w-what has my d-daughter done-"

"Your daughter is a fine girl, and you should be proud of her." Teana replied. "Fear not, your lovely daughter is in no trouble. Now, please sit up."

Asenath quickly rose her torso up, staring in disbelief at the two members of royalty.

"We'd like to invite your daughter to the palace." Atemu said, walking up next to his wife. "We'd be more than happy to extend that same invitation to you if you would like."

The pair of peasants simply stared at the Pharaoh in shock, certain he must be playing some form of prank but too terrified to say anything alluding to such. Atemu looked down at them, waiting for a response. When none came, he turned back to his carriage and gestured at the door into it, where a few others still sat. "I have something ask of young Mana, and our meeting will not be without benefits." With this, one of the men inside the cart revealed a covered metal tray from underneath his seat. He removed the circular cover from the tray, showing off a lavish spread of fruits of every kind.

Inspite of herself, Mana could not help but salavate at the sight. On cue, her stomach groaned. She knew her mother was probably just as hungry as her, if not moreso.

"Of course, I know you two probably had plans this afternoon." Atemu continued. "I'm more than happy to compensate you for your time." At this, another man inside the carriage pulled a watermelon-sized burlap bag out from under his seat and threw it out onto the sands behind the Pharaoh. He turned around and bent down to pick it up, then set it down in front of the two on their knees, pulling the string around the neck slightly to reveal the contents. Asenath and Mana stared at the protuding coins, not made of copper or iron they were typically lucky to find, but what appeared to be solid gold.

"So..." Atemu said, drawing their attention away for a second from the bag. "How about a ride?"

""""

Mana ripped the plump green grapes from the stem as fast as her small nimble fingers could, popping each into her mouth as she pulled it. She had never eaten something so good in her entire life, she was positive, nor had she ever eaten so much. Even as she sat in the presence of the most powerful men and women in the world, she couldn't hold herself back. It took all she had to hold herself back from weeping in joy.

Asenath was biting into a peach next to her, more reserved, blushing slightly as her young daughter pigged out but lacking the heart to tell her to stop.

The four others in the carriage merely watched them eat, no clue to their intentions yet given. Mana abandoned her clean grapevine and picked up an orange, fingernails digging away at the skin.

"You may want to consider saving room." Atemu finally said as Mana bit into the juicy orange. "The fruit is just an appetizer."

Immediately, the two girls froze midbite, looking up at the Pharaoh as if he had just given an order.

"I just mean...once we get to the palace, my chefs can cook up anything your heart desires. Just something to keep in mind." He said.

Mana brought the orange down to her lap, wiping the back of her right hand over her mouth. Suddenly remembering, she bowed her head down toward the Pharaoh. "Almighty Pharaoh, your generousity knows no bounds, and I can not even begin to comprehend the kindness you possess to grant me and my mother such lavish and undeserved gifts."

Atemu smiled. "You're welcome, young Mana." He leaned forward from across the carriage, Teana sitting next to him and across from Asenath. "Let me ask you a few questions." He looked over to his left, past Teana, at his High Priest seated by the door. "Do you know who this is, Mana?"

She looked at the tall, thin man, looking at her without expression. His glittering uniform and tall hat seemed distinctive, but she could not quite place him by name. However, the pyramid insignia on his shoulders...she stared at that for a moment...

"Is he a priest?" She asked.

Atemu laughed. "Yes! Yes, very good. He's the High Priest, in fact, and my most trusted advisor, High Priest Seto."

Mana went slightly red, and bowed her head toward's the High Priest. "My apologies, mighty High Priest Seto." She said.

Seto nodded. Atemu then pointed at the man sitting to the left of Asenath, not quite as tall or thin as Seto, and more tanned, but somewhat similarly built. His similar uniform gave him away as a priest, but beyond that, she could not identify him.

"What about him?" Atemu asked. Mana shook her head. "Priest Mahad, another trusted advisor of mine." Both Mana and Asenath bowed their heads toward him as well, and he nodded.

"Do you follow the news very much, young Mana?" Atemu next asked. "Do you know what happened last night in this city?"

Mana blinked a few times. The truth was, she knew very little about what was going on in the world beyond what was relevant to her survival. So, truthfully, she could only shake her head.

"Last night, a major bank was robbed, thieves made off with a lot of gold." Atemu explained. "The first bank robbery in decades that succeeded. At approximately the same time, there was an attack on the palace, Queen Teana was very nearly killed in an explosion. Both of these attacks used a dangerous art, thought long extinct, called black magic. Do you know anything about black magic, Mana?"

She again shook her head, wondering if she was disappointing the Pharaoh with her ignorance.

"I thought not, very few do anymore." Atemu comforted her. "My priests are capable of using magic, but of a different type. They can divine the future, see into the minds of others. He leaned forward toward Mana, causing her to withdraw back a few inches. "Very few people in the world know this, young Mana." He whispered. "I am ill-equipped to handle someone who has re-learned black magic. My vast armies are just flesh and bone. They may be capable of destroying any other flesh and bone force in the world, but I fear this black magician is something I can't handle."

He sat back against the wall of the carriage chamber. "You see my conundrum?"

Mana nodded slowly, not daring to ask the many logical questions raised by this story.

He waved his hand towards Mana dismissively. "That's enough for now."

She looked back down at the orange in her hand, and her stomach quickly told what it thought about 'saving room'. She bit back into the fruit.

""""

The dining room of the palace was knee-weakingly beautiful, particularly to a pair of woman who had never left the slums in their lives before. The two looked around in wonder at the high, glittering ceilings of gold, the massive, thick pillars of marble that extended from those ceilings to the cool marble floors that felt so good on their bare feet. The long dining table of polished wood that could have seated over a hundred. They had never seen so much luxury in their lives.

"Do you like it?" Pharaoh Atemu asked, enjoying the looks of unabashed glee on their faces.

Mana opened her mouth to say something, but quickly swallowed it in favor of a more proper response. "Almighty Pharaoh, as great as this palace may be, it is still not fit to house someone as grand as you." She said.

Atemu smiled at her. "Smart girl." He said. "The palace has tripled in size since I took the throne. I felt it should stand to represent the empire that it oversaw."

"It is a truly beautiful and magnificent palace, Great Pharaoh, but only the entire world would serve as fit for you." Mana said.

"That's quite enough." Teana said teasingly, looking up at her husband. "The Mighty Pharaoh has a big enough ego as it is."

"Now then." Atemu began walking towards the exit of the room, back towards the steps that led outside. "I thought you might enjoy seeing the Grand Palace. Come with me."

The rest of the group fell in step behind him, with a confused Asenath and Mana in the rear.

""""

"Forgive me for taking so much amusement in your complete and utter confusion at all of these events." Atemu said as the carriage slowed to a halt. It had been a fairly short trip, Mana would have guessed they had simply gone to another area of the palace courtyard. "I have not given nearly enough information."

Asenath shook her head quickly, then bowed it toward Atemu. "Not at all, Almighty Pharaoh. Your discretion is the final word in all matters."

"Why thank you." Atemu replied. "In any case, you remember the problem I told you about earlier, Mana?"

She nodded, her mind returning to his problem as the door to the carriage opened. The passengers disembarked one by one, onto the sandy path in front of a palace.

Mana looked up at it, blinking. It was certainly enormous and grand from the outside, with golden fences stretching around the border and grand marble pillars holding a huge stone slab hundreds of feet up...but she was quite certain this one was smaller than the previous one by a great deal.

"Pharaoh, sir...my apologies, but where are we?" She dared to ask, hearing her mother draw a quick breath.

"Very good question." Atemu replied. "You see, when I took the throne and began to expand Egypt, I wanted to make my kingdom as grand as possible. After all, quantity is only half the equation." He looked up at the palace before them. "So I looked at my priests. Specifically, my trusted inner circle of priests. Under all previous reigns, all priests resided in a simple single room, bare and dull with only basic funishings. I understood the reasons for it, preaching a message of how material goods were unimportant and how priests should instead be connected to the more spiritual. Yet, I felt that my most trusted advisors should be rewarded in this life as well as the next. So I built palaces for each of the priests in my inner circle. This one is Mahad's." With that, he began walking down the path to the palace, with the rest of the group on his heels.

"It doesn't quite stack up with the Grand Palace, but I think you'll find it lovely all the same." Atemu continued to speak as they walked up the marble steps. "A hundred rooms, a thousand servants, a thousand guards. "I'd give you the grand tour, but you'll be getting to know the place a lot better from here on out so long as that's what you'd like, young Mana."

She stared up at the Pharaoh in confusion. "I-"

"Ah yes." The Pharaoh said, not turning to look at her. "Yes. Well, that problem I told you about. I need help, Mana. I need your help. My empire is threatened by this black magic, and you can help me."

She blinked stupidly a few times, almost tripping over the last step that took the group up to the entrance hall. "I-"

"You see, little Mana, my priests can see people." He quite suddenly turned around and went down on one knee to level with Mana. She stood frozen to the spot, lowering her head slightly so that she was still lower than the Pharaoh. Atemu reached out and lightly grabbed her waist. "They have seen you. And even though you don't know it yet. Even though you can't imagine it yet. Even if it seems impossible, they have seen the potential in you."

She continued to stare blankly, trying to drop down to one knee but Atemu held her up. "You have the gift, Mana. Black magic. It can't be taught, virtually every other person in the world couldn't use it even with a lifetime of training, but you..." he touched his right index finger to her chest lightly, causing her to flinch "...it's all here. Mahad knows the theory behind it, he's studied the history of it more than any other living human. He can bring the gift out in you with some training. I need your gift, Mana. I need your help. Your gift can defeat this new evil that threatens Egypt, your gift is the only thing that can." He grabbed her right hand, holding it up inbetween his, causing her heart to again accelerate. "Can you help me?"

Mana tried to croak out her immediate acceptance, but her voice failed her. She was in shock. Was this all a dream? Her, capable of an extinct form of powerful magic? It seemed so impossible. He must be mistaken. But if he was, and she promised to help him but proved incapable, the punishment would no doubt be severe beyond measure, and her entire body gave a cold shiver at the thought of such pain. That fear seemed to hold her voice back.

"You don't have to decide right now." Atemu said, standing back up and resuming his walk into the palace. The group followed, as Teana reached down to grab a stunned Mana by the hand and guide her and a near-catatonic Asenath finally started to follow three steps behind.

"If you choose to accept my offer, Mahad will teach you everything he knows about the art, and it won't be too long before you begin to see that you do possess the ability." They walked through the entrance hall, Atemu guiding them right of the main entrance. "Of course, your powers are for me to command as I see fit, for understandable reasons." They came to a large marble door in the side of the arch in the entrance hall. Atemu grabbed a metal ring in the marble and pulled, the large door slowly pulling open as he did. The door opened to reveal a stone smooth staircase, very wide, leading up to another door. The group began to make the quick climb. "In the event that I am mistaken, and I assure you I am not, I'll release you without any punishment." He continued to speak as Mana worked to get her vocal chords up and running.

They came to the top of the staircase, where a brown wooden door stood. Atemu turned the brass handle and pushed it open.

The room on the other side was a sight. Thick, purple carpet covered the floor, except for a small stone section in front of the fireplace on the left wall. The walls were patterned with decorations from all corners of the world, paintings and figurines positioned everywhere. There were massive purple and gold pillows laying about everywhere, along with several purple couches and three giant red beds along the right wall. There were two doors, left open, on the far side of the room, one led to an opulent bathroom and the other to a massive walk-in closet. And perhaps, most exciting to the two girls, a long wooden table was right in the middle of the room, lined with every type of food imaginable. Atemu had not been kidding, for this time, not only was there fruit, but every meat known to man, all wheat products imaginable, and any drink anyone in the world could think of was sitting there. The meats were still smoking and sizzling. The fruit glinted in the light from the sun coming in through the right window. It was dazzling, and Mana had to keep her lips tightly closed to keep from drooling all over the carpet.

She stood at the threshold of the room, wanting more than anything to run in and begin pigging out but terrified of appearing rude to her royal benefactors.

"Should you choose to stay, this will be your room, which your mother can share if she chooses to." Atemu said as Mana very nearly started to hyperventilate right on the spot. "I've already earmarked a hundred servants specifically for you, and you have unlimited funds to do whatever you'd like within reason. So, little Mana, can I count on you?"

She turned to Pharaoh Atemu, looking up at him with bright, sparkling eyes and a big smile. She dropped down to one knee, looking down at his feet. "Almighty Pharaoh, I swear to use my gift in service to you so long as I live, and do everything within my power to serve your will."

"Very good." Atemu said, nodding. "Now, why don't you try out your new room?"

With that, she jumped up and bolted in, making a line straight for the table. It took only a few seconds for her to grab a thin slice of ham from the end of the table and begin consuming it violently.

Asenath took a few unstable steps into the room, looking around in awe. Atemu took a step into the room, watching her look around. "I suppose I should get permission from the parent." He said. "Do you approve of this arrangement?"

She suddenly started to give out little choked sobs as she looked around the room, tiny tears falling from her eyes onto the carpet. Suddenly, she turned around, falling to her knees in front of the Pharaoh, still sobbing slightly. "T-t-hank you." She choked out, leaning forward to start kissing Atemu's right hand. She did so repeatedly before leaning back slightly. "T-t-t-thank y-you." she repeated, falling to the ground and starting to kiss the Pharaoh's feet. She repeated this several times as well, her tears of unmeasurable joy still hitting the carpet as she did so.


	5. The Other Half

Chapter 5: The Other Half

"Sweet little girl." Teana said, laying back on the royal bed, stretched out, looking over at Atemu, seated at a chair in front of a desk to the immediate right of the door into the bedroom. "Did you see the look on her face when she saw that room?"

Atemu did not respond, staring straight forward into the mirror on the opposite side of the desk, on the wall. His hands were folded in his lap, back straight, locked in a staring contest with himself.

"It's...really odd. There's not been any black magic for a hundred years, and then suddenly a girl with the gift shows up? And she just happens to be born in Egypt?" Teana said, trying to draw a response from her husband.

Still nothing, Atemu continued to glare at himself, crossing his right leg over his left.

"...honey, I-"

"My inner circle has been penetrated." He said suddenly, not looking at his wife. "This assassination attempt. Someone very close to me conspires against me."

"Oh, honey, we don't-"

"How else could it have happened?" He interrupted. "No one knew you were going to sleep in that room until you made the choice before you went to bed. And yet the room had already been compromised, the window pane already opened. Only a priest could have divined the future in such a manner. A powerful priest, one who knows the royal family." He suddenly stood up, still glaring at the mirror.

"Well...it could be-"

Quite suddenly, he grabbed the armrest of the chair with his right hand, swinging it forward. He released it, sending it hurtling toward the mirror in front of him, a loud crash shattering the mirror and denting the wall behind it. Teana sat up, eyes widening as she put her right hand up to her mouth.

"Honey, please...it'll be okay." She said weakly, as the door to the bedroom burst open. A couple slave girls ran in, immediately assessing the situation. After dropping down on one knee in front of the Pharaoh, they silently ran over to begin picking up the shards of mirrored glass.

Atemu slowly walked over toward the bed, as Teana crossed her legs in front of her. "The most powerful empire in the world...the dominant superpower of the last fifty years...why would among the most powerful men in that empire turn on it?" He turned on his heel as he came to the edge of the bed, taking a seat on it, looking away from Teana. "What am I not seeing, Teana?"

The two girls scurried out of the room, all of the broken glass and upturned chair in tow. Teana put her hands on her husband's shoulders and started to massage them. "No member of your inner circle would cross you, honey. You've given each of them a palace for Ra's sake. And the eternal reward granted in the afterlife for those who faithfully serve the Pharaoh...it would be madness."

He sat there, stone still, for several seconds. "Perhaps." He finally said. "And yet here we are. The foundation of the Egyptian Empire rests in the hands of the Pharaoh and his inner circle. Everything is thrown out of balance if I can not trust them. I trust Seto with everything, I tell him everything. Isis as well. What if it's one of them? I have invested everything in Mahad training Mana properly, if it's him this kingdom will crumble. You see? If I can't trust them, nothing will work."

"Think back on your life, darling." Teana said, still massaging his shoulders. "Would Seto betray you? Say what you might about any of the others, if you must, but would Seto ever betray you? You have to trust someone, unless you plan to personally hunt this assassin down yourself."

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Atemu looked up at it, tapping his right foot on the floor lightly. "Enter." He finally called out.

The door swung open and Seto entered, followed quickly by two male slaves carrying a brand new shiny mirror. They bowed their head toward the Pharaoh before carrying the sheet into the room. Seto nodded at Atemu as he stepped into the room.

"The assassin remains at large." Seto said simply, standing at attention in front of the royal couple. "He must have left the palace immediately after the attack. All we found was this, right under the destroyed window amongst the glass and wood." He held up a small gold coin in his right hand, approaching Atemu as he held it out.

Atemu leaned in slightly to glance at it, which initially appeared to be a normal coin until the shape of the imprint of it proved to be Diabound. Still, the significance of this was lost to him.

"An identical coin was left by the bank thieves." Seto explained. "Confirming they are of the same party."

"As suspected." Atemu said, nodding. "Nothing else?"

Seto swallowed hard. "...Pharaoh...I do regret being the bearer of this, but there has been...one other develop-"

"Don't be ridiculous." Atemu gave a tiny smile. "You're not some messenger-boy. What is it?"

Seto glanced to the side for a half-second before returning to attention, as behind him the new mirror was installed, covering up the wall dent. "Today in the afternoon, a...pamplet of sorts was passed out amongst the citizens of Egypt. Millions of them were given out, distributed by a dozen Egyptian citizens."

"And?" Atemu asked, raising an eyebrow at his High Priest. Slowly, Seto reached for a rolled up piece of paper in a pouch on his belt. "There's no crime against advertising."

Slowly, Seto extended the paper toward Atemu, who took it. He unrolled it, looking down at the black ink inscribed on the white paper, forming a paragraph of text.

_Egypt is crumbling under the rule of this incompetent Pharaoh. He is concerned only with mad expansion of his territory, and has ignored you, the citizens of Egypt, in the process. So much is his focus on wars in faraway lands, I was able to rob a bank and very nearly assassinate the Queen in a single night. No more will this fool be allowed such selfish rule, for from this day forward, Egypt is mine. The fool Pharaoh may either step down or face the full wrath of my powers. As of now, this country will play by my rules._

_Pharaoh Bakura_

Atemu glared down at it for several seconds, then glanced up at Seto. "Who is this Bakura?" He hissed. Teana was still reading the note over her husband's shoulders.

"I...I'm not sure, but we suspect this may be the Thief King Bakura-" Seto began

"The bedtime fairy tale?" Atemu scoffed, throwing the note to the ground. "The myth? The Thief King is a story made up by petty criminals sitting around campfires, Seto, please do not tell me such tall tales have you convinced."

"Pharaoh, with all respect, the Diabound is the insignia of the Thief King. Dozens of acts of thievery are attributed to Bakura and his men every year." Seto attempted to justify even as Atemu scoffed. "There's never been definite proof, but-"

"I know all of this, Seto." Atemu insisted, shaking his head. "If the 'Thief King' is truly responsible for all of those unsolved robberies, he'd be sitting on a pile of valuables worth around five hundred billion gold debens. Tell me something, High Priest, where does one hide such a stash? And need I remind you that no apprehended thief in the history of this myth has ever admitted to working with, even seeing, this Thief King. He gets blamed for nearly a hundred crimes a year, and yet we never once capture one of them?"

Seto took a deep breath. "Yes, it's not...not the most likely of possibilities, admittedly. But I think it should be...considered."

"I admire your creativity, High Priest Seto." Atemu said wryly. "This court jester of a politician is clearly piggybacking on an old myth to gain some notoriety. What better way to gain attention?"

Seto nodded. "Clearly, sir. I apologize."

"No need, no need. Sometimes conspiracy theories take a hold of you, you get in the middle of them, and you lose your sense of reality."

Seto cleared his throat. "The twelve who distributed the pamplets have been imprisoned and await execution. It's irregular, however."

"I agree. Such behavior is certainly irregular." Atemu deadpanned.

"They...they don't say anything. All of them, they went without a fight and haven't said a word since. They wouldn't tell us a thing about who told them to do this or why." Seto described.

Atemu shrugged. "Then interrogate them, do what you need to do."

Seto bowed. "Yes sir. That's all." With that, he turned around and began to walk out of the room, even as the two slaves returned to the room with a new chair in tow. They quickly set it down in front of the desk and dashed out right behind the High Priest.

"This is all wonderfully timed." Atemu grumbled.

"What are you talking about?" Teana asked, leaning her head up behind Atemu's and kissing the back of his head.

Atemu was silent for several seconds, then slowly turned to face his wife. "It's...circumstances are changing. We're losing our advantages in the wars." He slowly leaned back on the bed, not taking his eyes' away from Teana's. "They're catching up with us, we're losing our force multipliers as the technology draws even. Soon, we'll have to pull off the attack." He then looked up at the ceiling as Teana slowly came to lay beside him. "The generals give us about four months."

Teana stared at him for a few seconds. "I...I see." She finally mumbled. "Well, maybe it's about time anyway."

Atemu slowly rolled his head over to look at her, unblinkingly. Teana quickly withered under the glare. "Uh...that is, to say...honey, Egypt is more than twice the size it was when you took the throne, you could step down tomorrow and still go down as the greatest Pharaoh to ever live. You had to know this was coming, I'd say you took a pretty good haul."

"This isn't all about territory, Teana." Atemu said, looking back up at the ceiling. "You know that."

"Well...I mean, if our armies aren't capable of taking cities, then there's not much we can do about it, right?" She quickly said, a pit developing in her stomach as she spoke. "Maybe now's the time to start setting up defenses around what we've already taken, may as well make the best of the situation. That's all I'm saying."

Atemu shook his head slowly. "You underestimate me. Even after all these years. You're right, I always knew this day was coming. I always did."

"Honey-" Teana started, but was quickly cut off.

"Not for a single second did I envision a scenario in which Egypt didn't crush the life out of every last one of them." He gave a small smile, still looking up at the ceiling. "They will fall, my Queen, I promise it. My plan was never to simply take some territory and valuables, those are just nice bonuses."

Teana frowned, propping her head up on her right hand. "Does it have to-"

"Yes." Atemu said flatly, looking over at her again. "We just had this discussion, Teana. I have no interest in making friends with these other countries. I've seen their true colors."

She looked him up and down slowly, sighing. "But how-"

"I have a plan, darling." Atemu insisted. "That's all I will say." His brow furrowed quite suddenly. "But this Bakura fool...fool though he may be, is clearly a talented thief in possession of great power." He snorted. "He'll have to be dealt with. As will the traitor."

"It is...an awful lot on your plate." She said lamely, looking down at her fingernails.

Atemu looked over at his wife for a split second before turning back to the ceiling. "I'll make them proud." He said. "My ancestors...all of them."

""""

The massive cave, hidden deep behind hundreds of feet of stone, remained as cold, impersonal, and bland as any other cave in the world. Carved into the belly of a massive rock structure in the middle of the desert surrounding Egypt, a few dozen miles from the Pharaoh's Palace, the cave was initially noteworthy just for it's size. Thousands of years of slow carving and chiseling by the forces of nature had formed the pathways and chambers that made it up. And even now, it remained in much the same shape that nature left it in. Many of the walls and floors were damp and mossy, and only years of experience would teach those who resided in the cave how to avoid stepping on sharp stones.

And yet, nearly fifty called this unnamed and largely unknown cave their home. More than a home, it was a family. The one place in the world they could truly go. For this cave, as rough and dirty as it may have been, was a palace. A palace to a different kind of king. The two cloaked, short men, carrying large brown sacks over their shoulders, were preparing to make their tribute to their king. They walked down a particularly thin and winding path now, which quite suddenly opened up into a massive chamber. One close to the very deepest point of the cave. This room, though it remained as dirty and unrefined as any other, had two things of interest.

The first made itself immediately obvious. The entire chamber, outside of a thin winding path of rock, had been filled virtually to the ceiling with a truly spectacular array of valuables. Countless mounds of golden coins, all manner of jewelry and gems, a thousand lifetimes worth of antiques, and everything inbetween. This colorful, shiny, and garish display was enough to draw anyone's attention on it's own, of course, but the figure laying on his side on a pile of gold near the entrance was also worth notice.

Long, spiky white hair, tanned skin, and a white and red robe, the man wore a golden band around his forehead crookedly and was currently holding date-sized rubies in his hands, looking them over.

The two went up to the pile and quickly dumped the contents of their bags on it, spilling mostly gold coins with the occasional emerald coming out as well. Their king looked up, watching the contents spill out. He nodded, licking his lips.

He was the Thief King Bakura. Not a man of rumor and heresy, but of flesh and blood. He was real, as were his accomplishments. Every last one of them. The proof was in this very room, sitting in these very real piles of treasure.

"How does it feel to serve the new Pharaoh of Egypt?" Bakura asked his two foot soldiers, who dropped down to one knee in front of him. "Would you call it different?"

"Not at all, for you are still the same great leader you always were, Thief King." The left one said.

"True." Bakura licked the ruby in his hand a couple times before throwing it into the pile. "Very true." He jumped to his feet and slid down off the pile, onto the rock path. "Would you believe it? The brat survived." He said, walking around, stretching his legs.

"I'm sorry, sir?" The one on the right asked as the two went back to their feet, carefully watching their leader walk around.

"The false Queen." Bakura explained. "I don't understand, it vexes me so." He put his right hand up to his forehead dramatically. "How could she have survived such an explosion? How could I be robbed of my first great victory over the false Pharaoh?"

"Sir, if I may." The left one started.

Bakura nodded at him. "Yes, Ammon?"

"Must the false Queen die?" He asked uncomfortably, shifting from left to right. "It occurs to me when we take the royal palace, the false Queen might be made to...work as a slave? Perhaps in your harem? I mean-"

Bakura chuckled under his breath, immediately silencing Ammon. "The idea has merit." He said, falling back into a pile of jewels on the opposite side of the stone path, hands behind his head. "But no. As tempting as it is to see that little bitch humilated, I want her dead even more."

He looked up at the two men, the one on his left rubbing his chin. "Something on your mind, Bes?" He asked.

"Is there any reason why you detest the false Queen?" Bes asked, scratching his head.

He smiled and looked up at the roof of the cave. "Little peasant girl who elbows her way into royalty with sex appeal. Supplicates her body for the Pharaoh so she can live in the palace. Golddigging brat." He dug his hand into the jewels he was laying in, running it through the pile. "I say, if you want to improve your position in life, you earn it. Look at me. I was a peasant once, and can anyone say I haven't earned my status as Thief King and Pharaoh?" He spread his arms to his sides, looking around his treasure room.

"Of course not." Bes replied.

"The false Queen got into the palace by opening her legs, and that I detest." Bakura nodded. "That is why I wish to see her die." He jumped back to his feet, approaching his two men. "In a way, she's worse than the false Pharaoh. He was born into the royal family, a line of disgusting pigs of men. She chose to enter it. And besides, killing his beloved wife would infuriate Atemu something furious."

"Does the plan change, Thief King?" Ammon asked.

"Of course not." He hissed. "That slut is of little consequence, I'll kill her later. The false Pharaoh, even with all of his might, can not stand against my magic. We'll wreak havoc on his precious Cairo, until even his own 'loyal' subjects have lost faith in him. Then, when he's at his weakest, we'll storm the palace, and purge all memory of him and his filthy ancestors." He threw his right hand out towards the pile of gold to his right, grabbing a fist-sized diamond. He held it up in front of him, glaring at it. "And they'll never speak again of the false Pharaoh Atemu."

With that, he licked the diamond, threw it back into the pile, and began walking down the path away from his men, cackling madly.


	6. Secrets

Chapter 6: Secrets

"Black magic is all about sacrifice, Mana." Mahad explained to his young apprentice. The two were seated in a very small room near the center of Mahad's palace, consisting of only light brown walls and two short stools in the middle of the room. Each was seated on one of them, legs crossed, Mahad in his traditional priest robes and Mana had swapped her modified sack out for a silk dress. "A different kind of sacrifice."

"What do you mean, Master Mahad?" Mana asked, her focus entirely on his words.

"Seeing the future and seeing into the minds of others is a skill that requires faith. A lifetime of service to the gods, properly rendered rituals...those who truly dedicate their lives to the art become good at it. It's a sacrifice of time." Mahad explained. "Black magic is a destructive and violent art, and feeds on life energy. Using it is exhausting, so there will be a very low cap on the sort of things you're capable of early on."

She nodded.

"However, it won't be long before you're able to do enough for the Pharaoh's purposes." Mahad continued.

"And how much is that?" She inquired.

"We don't know yet. One thing you should understand is that black magic is not simply explosions, even if it might initially seem like it. Once you truly start to understand it, you'll be capable of so much more. Black magic is about the manipulation of everything around you. Yes, early on, you won't be capable of delicate manipulation and your powers will be limited to the most chaotic and uncontrolled. Eventually you'll be able to focus it a little more, and ultimately it will go beyond simple destruction. You'll be able to control the weather, unite the minds of millions of soldiers toward a singular goal, and everything else." Mahad stood up. "Now of course, I can not perform the arts, nor can any known person in the world outside of this mystery thief, so I can only teach you theory. But it should be enough."

Mana stood up along with him as he moved to leave the room out of the singular exit door. "I swear that you have my full attention, now and foever, in learning this skill Master Mahad."

"Good." He said, opening the simple brown door, opening out into a hallway of tapestries. "Now, the first thing to understand about performing black magic, is that simple concept of manipulating nature with life energy."

""""

"Honey I was tested three times." Teana insisted, standing in front of her husband, who was seated on the throne. Their two children, Ammon and Asenath, were standing on either side of her. "The Emmer and Barley test, the blood vessel test, I've drank potions...there aren't any tests left!"

Atemu smiled, standing up from the throne, running his left hand's fingers through his hair. "So there's no doubt?"

She nodded, holding a small slip of parchment out towards her husband. "All the doctors agree." She then unfurled it and displayed it toward the Pharaoh, tiny scribbled writing present on it. "Besides, I have the same stomach pains in the morning and rice pudding cravings I did the first two times."

Atemu walked up to her and bent down slightly, putting his right palm on her stomach and looking at it. "How far along?"

"Three months or so." She responded. "They...they don't yet know the gender, but they're conducting more tests."

"C'mere." Atemu said, looking at his two born children, who stepped forward to look at their mother's stomach. "Right in here...right here, you're gonna have a new brother or sister in six months, and he's right in here."

"Or she." Teana added.

"Of course." Atemu admitted. He then wrapped his right arm around Ammon's shoulder and pulled him close. "Watch out, you might have competition for the throne right here."

"Atemu!" Teana frowned. "Don't set them against each other six months before one's even born!"

Ammon shrugged, putting his hand up on his mother's stomach. Atemu stood up, coming up eight inches higher than his queen. "You seem a little down. Remember how excited you were about Ammon and Asenath? You alright?"

She cast her eyes down and to the right, at the floor behind Atemu. "I'm...just tired. My stomach always hurts, I don't sleep well."

He nodded. "I understand." He leaned forward to hug his wife, who returned the action half-heartedly. "This is wonderful news, darling. I love you. I promise that, before this child is born, this thief will be dead and Egypt will be back to gutting all of the surrounding countires."

"D-don't promise that." She mumbled, grabbing Atemu's arms and pushing them off her, turning to walk away. "Don't promise that." She repeated, leading her children out of the throne room by lightly pushing on their backs.

"You should get back to bed." Atemu called at her back as she left the room. "You do look tired." Smiling, he sat back onto the throne, looking up at the ceiling.

""""

A giddy Pharaoh Atemu strolled down a hallway in High Priest Seto's palace, nodding to the many guards he passed in the golden path of elaborate painted carvings and dark brown doors. He smiled to himself slightly at their shock at the Pharaoh even acknowledging them at all as they dropped down to one knee.

A couple twists and turns later, he was at a massive golden set of double doors at the end of one of the winding halls, silver circular handles on both of them. He grabbed one, tugging it back, and the door cracked open soundlessly, swinging on it's hinge.

The room inside was similar to the first room in Atemu's bedroom, a massive golden chair near the back, a few simpler wooden ones in the middle, paintings and carvings along the walls and shelves of scrolls wherever there weren't any. Wasting no time, he crossed the blue cloth of the floor over to the carved wooden door on the left side.

His hand went up to the knob, but paused just before touching it as he heard a sensual female moan from inside. His brow furrowed. The sun was still hanging high in the sky, perhaps just past it's zenith and into the afternoon. High Priest Seto had been granted a harem, as had the other priests in Atemu's inner circle, but it was awful early to delve into such depravities. His ears perked up.

"Darling, it's so early, are you sure this-"

Seto cut the female voice off. "My duties today are done, nobody's going to come looking for me. They think I'm performing rituals in my meditation chamber."

Atemu pursed his lips. He didn't like this one bit.

The woman spoke again. "You're starting to become careless, sweetie. Remember how things were when you first brought me here months ago? You wouldn't even let me out of the bathroom until after sunset. Maybe we should-"

"You let me worry about that." Seto soothed. "Nothing bad is going to happen. And I need you now."

With that, Atemu grabbed the knob, twisted it, and forcefully pushed the door in, immediately swinging it to reveal the room.

A large bed with a purple blanket and red set of pillows was directly opposite the door against the wall, a black bench at the foot of it, the rest of the room was outside Atemu's focus at the moment. For on that bed was the unsettling sight of his High Priest, the esteemed Seto, sitting with his legs over the side edge of the bed, in a deep kiss with a woman on her knees on the bed with her back turned to Atemu. She had long blue-white hair, pale skin unnatural in Egyptian lands, and wore nothing but a burlap sack that had been roughly ripped into a dress over her slim body.

The door banged against the wall to the left of Atemu, drawing the attention of the two in the room. Seto's eyes flew open and he quickly parted his lips from the girl, who threw her head around to reveal her pretty pale face, strands of white hair falling all around it, eyes wide with fear. One look at the Pharaoh and she froze.

Atemu stared hard at the pair, not moving, placing his hands behind his back slowly. Seto had been so surprised he had even forgotten to stand in the Pharaoh's presence as expected of him.

"Well." Atemu began icily, slowly stepping into the room. "What do we have here?"

Seto rocketed up to his feet, standing at attention, even as the woman remained frozen to her spot kneeling on the bed. "I...I apologize, Sir Pharaoh. She...she's just a harem girl. I thought that I might...that I...I might-"

"A harem girl?" Atemu repeated, glaring at the girl, who immediately wilted under the gaze. Suddenly capable of movement, she shuffled her knees across the bed, away from the Pharaoh, partially hiding herself behind the High Priest.

"Yes, a-" Seto began, but silenced as soon as Atemu opened his mouth.

"You think you can hide behind the High Priest?" Atemu hissed, as Kisara continued to duck herself behind Seto. "You think he can protect you from me? You think _anyone_ can protect you from me? Where's your respect, girl?"

Seto quickly tapped her shoulder with his right hand, and Kisara quickly slid off the bed onto the floor, kneeling down and sticking her forehead into the carpeted ground, head pointed towards the Pharaoh, entire body shaking.

"Do you know how long I was at the door, by any chance, High Priest Seto?" Atemu inquired, slowly walking towards the pair. "Do you have any idea how much of your conversation I heard?"

Seto swallowed, standing rooted to the spot in front of the girl. "...f-foreplay, my Pharaoh." He sputtered out.

"Foreplay?" Atemu said, smirking slightly. "I never had you pegged as a roleplayer."

Seto allowed no expression to cross his face, even as his brow began to glisten with sweat.

Atemu slowly stepped around his High Priest, looking down at the shaking girl. "You always dress your harem girls in burlap sacks, Seto? Or is that part of the foreplay?"

Suddenly, he reached down with his right hand and grabbed her tiny left wrist, pulling her up. She gasped at this, sitting up with her eyes still closed, breathing heavily. He looked her over quickly. "And I don't see any markings indicating harem membership."

"She...she's new." Seto said lamely, turning to look at his Pharaoh. "She hasn't been...been...been fully integrated yet, but-"

"Seto." Atemu said, letting her arm go, causing her to quickly fall back down to the ground. "Think really hard about this. Really hard. I am the Pharaoh, mightiest man in the world, descendant of the gods. You are the High Priest. My second-in-command. A man who has sworn to spend your entire life in dedicated service to the Pharaoh. Now, before you try lying to me again, I want you to spend a few seconds thinking about that."

He paused, leaving Seto to glance around his room, then look down at the girl.

"Now." Atemu cleared his throat. "Is this woman a harem girl?"

"No, Pharaoh Atemu." Seto said.

"Do you have any intention of putting her in your harem?" Atemu looked down at her again, still shaking timidly.

"No." Seto replied, swallowing hard as he said so.

"Are you hiding something from me regarding this girl?" Atemu continued his line of questions.

"...y-yes." Seto stammered out, his voice wavering.

"Out with it then." Atemu hissed, glaring deep into Seto's blue eyes. "And please, don't disappoint me."

Seto glanced down at the floor, swallowing hard again and clearing his throat. "P-Pharaoh, I...I...I am truly sorry." His hands dropped to his sides, hands balling into fists. "I...this girl...I saved her from the...the bathroom-I...I mean the fields. Four months ago...maybe five, I suppose more around four and a half, probably a-"

Atemu held his palm up towards Seto, silencing him immediately. "Stop wasting my time, High Priest."

Seto cleared his throat again, his face now shining with sweat and his hair starting to mat around his face. "I..." he took one glance over Atemu's left shoulder, eyes dilated. "I've..._fallen_...for her..." he croaked out, now afraid to meet Atemu's eyes.

Atemu stared blankly at Seto's forehead. He had assumed as much from what he heard from the door, but was hoping against hope that it might not be true and he had been taking it out of context. "Excuse me?" He breathed.

"We...we're in love..." he said, shamefully looking down at the ground as Atemu turned away, pinching the bridge of his nose and his eyes squeezed shut in frustration. "Mighty Pharaoh, I...I offer my deepest apologies, and I have no excuse for my actions." He spilled out frantically.

"No kidding." Atemu huffed. "You know, Seto, Egypt has some problems right now. We have problems." He stepped up right in front of Seto and pointed his right index finger into his face. "Real problems. The last thing I need right now, is my High Priest thinking with his cock."

Seto flinched at the use of profanity from the Pharaoh, but didn't dare bring it up.

"Did you think about that?" Atemu asked rhetorically, eyes wide and nostrils flared. "Did you take one second to think about that?"

Seto had nothing to say, and simply continued to look down at the ground in front of him.

"And how about my reign?" He growled, stepping away from Seto and glaring down at the girl. "In case you forgot, everything that happens in the kingdom of Egypt during my reign is put on me by the history scholars. _Everything!_ Not the least of which the actions of my second-in-command and High Priest. How do you think the keepers of history will look on me, knowing that my High Priest had an affair with a gutter rat?"

Seto again held his tongue, his face starting to go red.

"I...I..." he again pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "I really don't know what to say. We'll talk about this more later." With that, he bent down, grabbed the girl's wrist, and began to drag her towards the room's door as she started to whimper.

"W-what are you doing?" Seto spit out inspite of himself, eyes widening at the sight of the girl being limply dragged away by the Pharaoh.

"You damn well know the punishment for having an affair with a High Priest." Atemu spat, feeling the girl's heartrate rocketing through the roof as he held her wrist. "I'm taking her to the executioner, she's to be beheaded immediately." He heard her give a sharp whimper as he said these words.

"N-no!" Seto spilled out, holding his hands out toward Atemu pleadingly. "Please, don't-"

"On what grounds?" Atemu asked, nostrils flaring again, looking his High Priest up and down. "Is that not her crime?"

Seto was starting to pant heavily, his chest rising and falling. "I...I'm asking for mercy-"

"What has this peasant brat ever done in her life to warrant a shred of mercy from a Pharaoh?" Atemu roared, gripping her wrist tight enough to draw a gasp of pain. "We have nothing to discuss."

He turned and started to leave the room, but the High Priest ran up behind him and stepped between him and the doorway.

"Pharaoh, please, I-"

"You're. In. My way." Atemu growled, nearly snarling at Seto.

"I..." Seto clasped his hands behind his back again and stood at attention. "I accept full responsiblity for this affair, and wish to take the full punishment for it."

Atemu scoffed. "What would you have me do? Behead you? Don't worry, you'll have your own penance to pay for this, now you're _still_ in my way."

"Please, Pharaoh, she had no choice in the matter, I gave her none!" Seto insisted, on the verge of tears. "Do what you would with me, but please don't kill her! She committed no wrongdoing, I-"

"Are you going to start crying?" Atemu mocked, a fire still gleaming from his eyes. "Would you really stoop so low? Now, move out of my way, before I move you."

Seto took a deep breath, straightening himself up, then slowly shuffled to his left. "As always, your word is final in all matters within this kingdom, Pharaoh." Seto said softly, his voice strained. "Do what you will." He managed to squeak out.

Atemu looked his High Priest up and down, slowly, eyes still glaring daggers at him. Then he looked down at the girl he was dragging, head hanging low, white-blue hair hanging all around her head, still panting like mad. Slowly, he tilted his head back up, then grunted and threw the girl's wrist back down onto the ground, then took a few steps towards the door.

Seto's eyes widened in shock at this before he failed to cover up a smile. "Oh, Pharaoh, thank yo-"

"Shut up!" Atemu hissed, pointing his right index finger back into Seto's face. "This...has _nothing_ to do with you. I'm simply too emotional right now to make a decision."

Seto stood back at attention, hiding his relief behind a stony mask without emotion once again.

"I'm going to be back in this room in one day. Exactly one day, at this exact time tomorrow. As will you, and your little squeeze." Atemu explained through gritted teeth. "I will ask questions, and get answers. If I don't like what I hear, I'll slice her open on the spot. If I don't get the absolute truth, I'll slice her open on the spot. I'll be calm and clear-minded, and I'll make the correct decision."

"Yes, Pharaoh." Seto said huskily, nodding.

"And _you_-" Atemu continued, nearly touching his nose now. "-you will be calm and clear-minded as well. You will remember your place, as my second-in-command and High Priest. When I am back in here, this time tomorrow, the thought of lying or hiding the truth from me will not even cross your mind. Do I make myself clear?"

"...yes, Pharaoh." Seto again nodded. "You have my word."

"Good." Atemu walked through the threshold of the doorway, grabbing the frame of the door as he did. "This changes nothing!" He pointed at the girl on the ground, still crumpled up haphazardly. "Make no mistake, you're on borrowed time!" With that, he slammed the door behind him, shaking a few paintings on the walls.

Seto immediately ran over to his love on the ground, curled up and crying on the floor, reaching down to pick her up. He lifted her up at the back and knees as tears streaked down her cheeks, trying to comfort the terrified girl, and carried her over to the bed.


	7. True Power

Chapter 7: True Power

"Kisara, darling, listen to me very carefully." High Priest Seto said, seated on the black bench at the foot of his bed, right to the left of his forbidden love, holding her small hands in his large ones. "I promise you, that if you are completely honest and open with the Pharaoh, and you show complete respect to him, he will show you mercy." He looked deep into her blue eyes with his own, almost pressing his face up to hers. "Everything will be okay, I promise."

"I...I'm so scared." She said softly, looking away and down at the floor. "I don't think I can do this!" Already her skin glistened with nervous sweat. "He's going to kill me, I just know it!"

"Don't think that." Seto said firmly, stroking her chin with his right index finger. "Pharaoh Atemu is a good, kind man. I've known him his whole life, and I know this. I know him better than any man on this planet. He's a good man, and so long as you don't displease today you'll be fine."

He wrapped his arms around her shaking body and held her close to his chest, patting her shoulder. "When he arrives here, I won't be able to protect you. I gave him my word. If you say anything I know to be less than the truth, I am honor bound to tell the Pharaoh, so give him nothing but the truth."

She returned the hug, wrapping her arms around his chest, tears starting to streak down her cheeks. "If it...were it not for you, I would have died out in the sun months ago." She mumbled. "Whatever happens today, I want to thank you for that. I'll face eternal torment in the afterlife if the Pharaoh condemns me to it, but it was still worth it."

"He won't." Seto insisted.

"You say he's a good kind man, my love, yet he has strange ways of showing it." Kisara said as Seto pushed strands of hair out of her eyes. "I know of his cruelty, his warmongering. Is he really so kind?"

"Honey." Seto said, looking down at her. "I know him. I've known him his whole life. Please, just believe me when I say that he's a fair man. You will live through this, as long as you keep your head on straight."

Just then, the door swung open, revealing the Pharaoh, standing tall in his robes, headpiece on, his face void of emotion. Immediately, High Priest Seto stood up to attention and Kisara wilted down to the ground, kneeling down and planting her forehead into the carpet.

Atemu swiftly walked over to the desk to the immediate right of the door, grabbing the carved wooden chair with a beige cushion from it and spinning it around to face the pair. He sat down in the seat, crossing his right leg over his left.

"You know what happened this morning?" He said smoothly to Seto, not acknowledging the girl who still had her nose firmly snuggled into the red carpeted floor.

"No, Pharaoh." Seto replied honestly. "I...I took the morning to center myself for this."

"Understood." Atemu nodded. "In any case, Bakura has struck again. The university on the northern outskirts was attacked. The support pillars were blown out, the structure collapsed on close to two hundred."

Seto flinched. "My condolences and apologies. I should always be aware of-"

"The Queen is carrying my third child, and has been moody to say the least since my birthday a week ago." Atemu continued. "I have a lot on my mind right now, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, Pharaoh." Seto nodded quickly. "I have the utmost respect for the responsibilities the Pharaoh carries. And congratulations on your-"

"I do not know what it is inside me that motivates me to spend a single more second on this matter." He interrupted. "Why I don't just kill this peasant girl this very second, and be troubled by this matter no more, I have no clue. Just know that it's taking every last ounce of my goodwill to sit here now."

"You have my deepest gratitude for granting us this opportunity to explain ourselves." Seto said, bowing his head slightly.

"I don't want to be here." Atemu said through gritted teeth. "I don't want to be dealing with this ridiculous issue during a time when my kingdom is being attacked by a madman and I'm preparing to have another child. But, I promised that I would be here today. I promised I would be calm, collected, and level-headed. I can hardly imagine making a decision without emotion right now. But somehow, I'm going to find a way to do it."

With that, he turned to look down at the girl, who had not yet budged. "Rise." He finally said, and she rose up into an upright kneeling position, not bringing her eyes up higher than Atemu's feet. "What's your name?"

"Kisara." So she replied, voice soft but solid.

"Who are you?" Atemu propped his right elbow up on the armrest of the chair, leaning his cheek on that hand.

"...a peasant girl, Mighty Pharaoh." She answered, not quite sure how to really answer the question.

"You're not from here, clearly. Where were you born?" Atemu continued to stare daggers down towards the girl, not giving her a second out of her stare.

"I was born in Egypt, Mighty Pharaoh." She said. "My mother and father came here from far away lands before I was born, they've never told me why or where they came from."

"And they are?" Atemu continued, glancing up at Seto who still stood at attention for a second.

"My mother was killed when I was very young." She explained. "I lived with my father in the slums until about four months ago."

"What is the profession of you and your father?" He inquired.

"None for both of us." She responded, going slightly red with embarrassment but remembering her promise to be honest. "My father has never emotionally recovered from my mother's death. He drinks a lot. I work when I can, but it's not often. Even in the slums they look at me as a-"

"A freak." Atemu finished for her, nodding.

She nodded back, putting her hands on her knees.

"How is it that you found your way into High Priest Seto's palace?" Atemu finally popped.

"Five moons ago, men started going around the slums recruiting workers to start construction on a new wing of High Priestess Isis's palace." Kisara explained, her eyes on the carpet in front of her, her voice still coming through strong as she willed herself to maintain her composure. "I hadn't eaten in three days, I saw no other choice. I went to one of the recruiters and begged for a job."

"Our recruiters are instructed to hire only those who can prove themselves to be physically fit. Generally women aren't considered." Atemu said smoothly.

"That's what he said." Kisara said, swallowing her saliva down hard. "I beg of you to understand, Mighty Pharaoh, me and my father are constantly broke, there's never any food, I-"

"Don't try to justify yourself." Atemu cut her off. "Give me the facts, nothing more."

"My apologies." She bowed low for a second before coming back up. "I...I bargained for the opportunity to work on the palace with the recruiter." She again went slightly red.

"Bargained?" Atemu repeated, raising his right eyebrow.

She cast her eyes to her right, still on the floor. "That night, I met the man in a back alley in the slums. He didn't want to take me, so...I...I had to perform or-"

"I think I get the picture." Atemu said, holding his left palm out towards her.

"Thank you, Pharaoh. I went to the worksite the next day. They had me carrying bags of mud...I never had a chance." She recalled. "And the sun...it was all too much. Less than a half hour into the day, I collapsed. The foreman instructed everyone to not help me up. Either I'd get up and get back to work or I'd go ahead and die right there on the sands."

"Wait." Atemu suddenly said. "The recruiter, he should be punished for this. What was his name?"

"He...he never gave it." She said, her eyes again back on Atemu's slippers. "I'm sorry."

Atemu nodded. "He'll be found. Continue."

"I laid there for some time. Death didn't sound like such a bad idea. And...and then, just when I had given up..." she looked up at Seto, still standing at attention beside her. "...he saved me."

With that, Atemu gestured his left hand towards Seto. "Is this all true?"

"Yes sir." Seto replied. "To the best of my knowledge, everything Kisara has said so far to you is the truth."

"What was your perspective on this event?" Atemu put his left foot back on the ground.

"High Priestess Isis wanted to show me the plans for the addition to her palace. We rode a couple of the steeds from the royal stables over to the worksite so she might describe her plans." Seto described. "When we rode up, I saw Kisara collapsed on the sand. I was simply...curious, her complexion and look is so rare in Egypt. So I rode up to investigate."

"And you found a peasant girl in over her head." Atemu shrugged. "What's so interesting about that?"

Seto glanced down at the floor for a brief half-second before re-meeting the Pharaoh's gaze. "I...I must confess I was taken by her." He mumbled, going red himself. "I first thought that I might add her to my harem. I took her back to my room-"

"Hardly procedure for a new harem girl." Atemu interrupted sharply.

"...I didn't fully understand what I was doing, but...it didn't feel right to hand her off to my servants." Seto explained. "I bathed her, fed her, talked to her...and...well I can't fully explain it, but I suddenly found the prospect of her being put to work as a harem girl unacceptable. But, I knew the rules about priests and love...but I couldn't control myself. So, I...I told her to hide in my bathroom during the day, and...well...here we are."

Atemu slowly nodded, putting his left forefinger up to his chin. "The words of a street urchin hold little weight to me, but I think I can still trust the words of my High Priest."

"I swear on my mother's eternal soul that I, and Kisara, have told nothing but the truth today." Seto said firmly, crossing his right arm over his chest to his left shoulder. "And I'd like to again apologize deeply. As I said, there are no excuses for my actions, and I am truly remorseful for putting you through this."

Atemu bowed his head down for several seconds, eyes closed. "You're a fine High Priest, Seto." Atemu finally said, looking up at his right hand man square in the eyes. "Egypt would not have expanded as it has if it were not for your wisdom. I could ask for no more from your service to me, and you'll go down as one of the finest High Priests Egypt has ever seen."

"Thank you, Mighty Pharaoh." Seto said, bowing slightly again.

"You're also a good friend, even if we have largely put that element of our relationship behind us. I have not forgotten that." Atemu continued. "Do you believe any of that puts you above the law, High Priest Seto?"

"Of course not, sir." Seto said quickly, putting his hands back at his sides. "Not in the slightest."

"Well, you're wrong." Atemu said, giving a tiny smirk which flickered and died. "It is..._only_...because of your flawless record as my advisor, and exemplary work in your High Priest duties over the past ten years, that I'm even entertaining this." He grunted, then looked back down at Kisara. "She must mean a lot to you. I have no desire to cause you grief, or take something precious away from you. I like you, and your work is valuable to me, and I don't want to lose either." He stood up from the chair. "My grandfather once said that true power is not in the ability to have someone condemned, to have someone killed, at a whim. He said it was in the ability to have every justification to have someone killed, and choosing not to. Pardoning the guilty was the ultimate measure of power, he would say. Was he right? I don't know." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'll spare the girl."

Kisara's eyes lit up, but she managed to hold back from moving or even smiling. Seto exhaled but willed himself to not drop his guard.

"My terms are simple." He took two steps forward so he was right in front of the kneeling Kisara, still looking down at her. "You will work as a slave here, in High Priest Seto's palace. You will be held the same standard as all other slaves in my kingdom, and I expect nothing less than complete obedience and outstanding work in all your duties. Believe me, when slaves of Egypt do not perform their tasks as expected, I hear about it. And if I hear so much as a whisper that you're not satisfying the slavekeepers, I'm going to take that as you disrespecting the gift of life I've granted you." He folded his arms across his chest, looking back up at Seto. "And you, High Priest Seto. You would do well to remember that this girl is a slave first regardless of your personal feelings. And that is at all times, without exception."

"Of course, Pharaoh." Seto said. "She will work as any other slave every day for the rest of her life if that is what you wish."

Pharaoh Atemu withdrew a small golden blade, thin and shiny, from his belt and held it up in front of his face. "Do you find my terms acceptable, Kisara? There is a second choice."

"Of course, oh merciful Pharaoh." Kisara said quickly, bowing her head down to the floor again before raising up. "Truly, your might is surpassed only by your kindness, and I could spend a thousand lifetimes in service to you and not repay this mercy you have shown me."

With that, Atemu drew the blade back into his waist. "Very good. Report to the slavemaster in the lower levels first thing tomorrow morning."

Kisara bent back down to the floor, this time kissing each of the slippers on Pharaoh Atemu's feet, before coming back up.

Atemu then stepped around Kisara and over to Seto, who continued to hold himself at attention. "No one is to ever know about any of this ugly business. I know, you know, she knows, others may suspect, and that's all it will ever be. I'd better not hear so much as a word from anyone else about any of this."

"Of course, Pharaoh." Seto nodded. "You are fair and wise, and my appreciation of your merciful decision knows no bounds. But forgive me, might I ask for some clarification on your terms? She will work as a slave in my palace, as you command, for the expected fourteen hours a day. However, beyond those fourteen hours, would it be acceptable to-"

"What you do with your slaves is your business, and I don't want to hear about it." Atemu said dismissively. "Particularly in the bedroom. Do I make myself clear?"

Seto managed to fight the urge to smile once again. "Of course, sir."

"Well, for the benefit of the uneducated peasant, your sordid little relationship will be allowed to continue." Atemu clarified. "If your libido desires it, you may take her to bed and do what you will. She's your slave, so long as she performs her duties as demanded you can do whatever you want with her. However, it's to be kept a complete secret, and I expect you to take any and all precautions to make sure nobody ever suspects such...such an absurd arrangement is being permitted."

"Crystal clear, my lord." Seto said, nodding. "I assure you, her slave duties will always come before anything else."

"Now, as for your lies and deceit over the past four months..."

"...yes, Pharaoh?" Seto said warily.

Atemu's right hand came up with an open palm, smacking the back of Seto's head. Seto's head was thrown a few inches forward as he winced, but he quickly reopened his eyes to look at Atemu.

"I consider the matter closed." Atemu said, walking towards the door to the room. "Nobody finds out. Not ever." He stepped through the threshold, shutting the door behind him.

Immediately, Kisara got to her feet and ran toward High Priest Seto, embracing him in a full-body hug that he returned. This segued quickly into a deep passionate kiss for several seconds, before Kisara broke away.

"You were right. He is kind." She said.

""""

Isis stood before the throne, hands behind her back, looking up at the Pharaoh she served. Atemu sat on his chair of gold and jewels, looking down at the scene. Behind Isis was a pair of muscular soldiers, wearing the traditional red robes of Egypt, each holding an arm of a peasant between them. The peasant was gagged by a round ball of stone strapped around his head, and seemed entirely uninterested in his plight. In fact, he looked positively bored as he stared at the Pharaoh.

"Well?" Atemu said impatiently, folding his arms across his chest.

"An infestation of blasphemers has taken root across Egypt, my Pharaoh." Isis said shortly. "This peasant is just one of hundreds right now, throughout your lands." She looked back at the man being flanked by the two soldiers. "Further magical tricks, no doubt."

"Do tell." Atemu said, leaning back on the purple cushion on the backrest of his throne.

With that, Isis quickly whipped off the gag from the mouth of the peasant, who immediately began talking in a loud monotone.

"The false Pharaoh's reign must come to an end. With every passing day he proves himself to be even more incapable of being a ruler. He is not interested in the plight of Cairo, even as buildings fall and hundreds are killed his focus remains on his wars off in faraway lands. It is time to move against the false Pharaoh, citizens of Egypt! March on his palace of sin and greed, demand he hand the reigns over to true Pharaoh Bakura, and restore order to Egypt. Save your beloved homeland from the false Pharaoh, and-"

"That's quite enough." Atemu finally said, prompting the guard to his right to withdraw a small dagger and quickly jab it into the peasant's side. The pair of protectors quickly shuffled out of the throne room across the marble floors, dragging the possessed Egyptian citizen as death overtook him.

"Hunt them all down, have them killed immediately." Atemu said shortly.

"Rightaway." Isis said, bowing her head slightly. "I hope his words did not offend you to the point of-"

"Well it's not your fault." Atemu snapped a little harder than he might have liked. "Anything else?"

She looked down at her feet for a second before regaining her composure. "Well...I feel you should know that the public is beginning to turn." She said quickly, unable to help glancing down at the floor.

"Meaning?" Atemu said icily, his arms down on the armrests on either side of his throne.

"There's some public unrest in Cairo." Isis explained warily. "They have not known fear like this for over a decade, the bank robbery, the university destruction, the hospital collapsing, and now the museum...and this Thief King has bewitched so many to spread his propaganda, there is a small population of Cairo who has started to believe him." She swallowed hard. "They...they speak in hushed tones in back alleys now, but soon things may become more open."

"I have no time in my day for subjects who would only serve me when times are easy." Atemu said through gritted teeth. "Public displays of insubordination of any kind are to be met with immediate force. Those bewitched are to be executed, those of their own free will are to be imprisoned in the palace dungeons. Do I make myself clear?"

"Of course, sir." Isis said. "The root of the problem, howeve-"

Atemu banged his right fist down onto the armrest of the throne, immediately silencing her. "You think I don't know that?" He grunted. "You think I'm not doing everything in my power to end this reign of terror from the so-called Thief King?" He looked down on the floor in front of the throne, at the shiny black marble floor, showing a faint reflection of the entire massive room. "I...I was not ready for this." He grumbled. "I don't know what I can do. I have placed all of my faith into young Mana, until she's ready I fear-"

Fast footsteps interrupted his thoughts, and he looked up at the massive wooden doors across his throne, which slowly began to swing open. It opened just a crack, light from the opposite room pouring in in a thin straight line on the floor, before the figure of High Priest Seto stepped in cautiously.

"Yes?" Atemu asked. It had been three weeks since his display of mercy, and he had not yet managed to forget the incident, slightly cold and distant around his High Priest since then.

Without a word, Seto took another step in, revealing a second person right behind him. Wearing the red robes and gold helmet of the Egyptian army, the unnamed man had a small dagger digging into the back of the High Priest, which he continued to prod into his back as they stepped forward.

Atemu and Isis looked at the scene, Atemu maintaining his composure, simply crossing his arms across his chest and glaring at the two. Isis, however, could not help a surprised gasp as she took a half step back toward the throne.

"Can I help you?" Atemu finally said as the two slowly walked toward the throne, Seto's eyes slightly wide as he felt the blade in his back but determined to maintain an air of dignity.

"It's good to finally meet you." The unnamed soldier started to speak, in a dead monotone without emotion, the two continuing to march towards the throne. "I so wish it could have been in person, but...well, given the circumstances, I suppose this is the best I can do, isn't it?"

"Stop speaking nonsense." Atemu said flatly. "Who are you?"

"Don't be dense, Atemu." The soldier countered. "How many people do you know capable of possessing your so-called loyal subjects to do their bidding?"

Atemu tilted his head to the right slightly. "Ah yes. Of course." He steepled his fingers in front of his chest, glaring at the two approaching him. "The Thief King, Bakura is it? What have you come here to do? Kill my High Priest?"

Wordlessly, the duo continued to move on the throne.

"Well don't hold out on me, Thief King." Atemu said mockingly. "Isis here deserves a promotion for all of her loyal service to me, by all means, make it happen."

With that, the soldier threw Seto forward now that they were perhaps just a dozen paces from the throne, letting him stumble out forward before quickly walking up to stand by Isis's side.

"I'm not here for the High Priest." The guard spoke again. "He'll be serving me soon, no sense in killing him."

"Give me a single good reason why I shouldn't gut your little puppet right this very second." Atemu menaced, reaching down towards his golden dagger with a ruby hilt.

"Go right ahead." The soldier spread his arms out to either side, beckoning Atemu to follow through on his threat. "He's your soldier. If you don't want to hear what I have to say, it's your loss."

"What makes you think I'd want to hear anything you have to say?" Atemu snarled. "You're nothing but a criminal with a few magic tricks who's a matter of days away from painful execution."

"My magic tricks have you stymied, false Pharaoh." The soldier shot back. "You've been helpless against my assaults, there's nothing you can do. And it's going to only get worse."

"Have you really gone through all this trouble just to gloat?" Atemu said through gritted teeth.

"Not at all." The soldier said, his voice still completely flat. "I am here to see if you are willing to concede defeat and go quietly."

"That'd be the day." Atemu growled. "You'll burn all of Egypt to the ground before you see me hand the throne over to you."

"If that's what it takes." Came the reply. "Please, enough with the tough guy act. You can't stop me and you know it, there's no point in drawing this out."

Atemu again pounded his right first into the armrest of his throne. "You stand before the might of a dozen generations of Pharaohs, descendant from the gods themselves, in command of the greatest empire this world has ever known!" He roared, standing up. "The almighty gods themselves look down on this mighty empire as the token they have left behind so the world might remember them, do you think for a second they would let the likes of _you _have it?"

"The gods can't save you." The soldier replied, still as monotone as ever. "Or I would already be dead."

"Just who are you?" Atemu asked, slowly approaching the possessed puppet. "What kind of madman seeks to take the throne from the Pharaoh?"

"That's a tale for another day, Atemu." The soldier said. "Now, you can't say I didn't give you a chance."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Atemu questioned, stopping several steps away from the unnamed warrior of his army.

"As we speak, a prison in the southwest corner of Cairo is being assaulted." He clarified. "Within minutes there will be a massive jailbreak, criminals running wild, polluting your precious city with crime and chaos. For every day you don't hand the throne to me from this moment on, I'll destroy a further prison, leading up to the fall of your precious maximum security jail just three blocks away. And then, when your entire city is plunged into a crimewave, we'll see if your disposition changes."

With that, Atemu lunged forward, regard for his own life momentarily forgotten, golden blade drawn. The soldier, however, had no reaction as he shoved the sharp knife into the stomach of the possessed man, drawing blood out a newly opened wound.

"I look forward to meeting you in person." Atemu said simply, withdrawing the knife and letting the body fall to the floor. He backed away quickly, shaking the blood off of his thin blade.

"Pharaoh Atemu, I-" Seto started but was immediately interrupted.

"Priestess Isis, investigate his claims." Atemu instructed. "If it is as he says, move every single prisoner in Cairo to the maximum security prison."

"Pharaoh, if I may-"

"Do it!" Atemu insisted. "Do as I say!" He heavily sat back down onto his throne after setting his bloody blade on the armrest. "I do not wish to discuss this!"

"...of course, my Pharaoh." With that, Isis bowed and left the room as quickly as she could while maintaining her composure, sweeping across the marble to the massive doors on the other side.

Seto stood there in silence for several seconds as Atemu looked down at the floor in front of his throne. Clearing his throat, he gathered his nerve and re-opened his mouth. "My lord, if I-"

"This city." Atemu looked up. "This city will not accept high crime rates. They will not accept inadequate protection and security." He continued mournfully. "I...I do not know what will happen should the jails be compromised, High Priest, but I fear the worst."

"Pharaoh, I-"

"They will turn on me. This thief king, with each stunt he pulls he draws more of my subjects to him. His acts of terrorism strike fear into the populace, fear they blame on me." Atemu went on. "I don't know what to do, High Priest." He looked back down at the floor.

"Pharaoh, I assure you, your reign is under no true threat." Seto finally managed to get out unconvincingly. "Your subjects would never dare turn on you."

"They already are." Atemu said quietly. "I need another miracle, High Priest. Like the one I had ten years ago. Do I have another?"

"I do not know, sir, but might I remind you that this thief king is just one man, and by capturing him we end this uprising?" Seto said matter-of-factly, not terribly good at this cheering up business.

"And that's just so easy!" Seto snarled, suddenly glaring up at Seto who fought to not wilt under it. "It's not like I wouldn't have done that already if it was possible! There's nothing I can do to stop him, not right now, not so long as he has his bag of magical tricks."

Seto looked over to the right of the throne, cleared his throat, and took a step forward. "My Pharaoh...that...that may not be entirely true." He spun his head around to check behind him, ensuring they were the only two in the throne room, before turning back to Atemu. "He plots to target the prisons next. Perhaps we could be ready for him."

"I could throw my entire army at him and I question whether or not it would work." Atemu said bitterly. "Particularly in that the casualty rates are rising on the warfronts by the day."

"Pharaoh, with your permission...I may have an idea."


	8. Face to Face

Chapter 8: Face to Face

The eyes of everyone in the room rested on the plain wooden chair against the back wall of the similarly plain room. Simple brown walls on all sides, Pharaoh Atemu, High Priest Seto, Priest Mahad, and Little Mana were all entirely focused on it, Mana in particular had both of her little hands extended out towards it.

Without warning, the chair was suddenly splintered into several pieces, an unseen force ripping it apart from within. The four legs were sent flying into the walls, the seat rocketing up to the ceiling as the backrest tore away to slam against the backwall. Those pieces of wood shattered upon impact with the walls and ceilings into a couple dozen pieces of wood splinters, finally coming to rest on the floor.

Mana fell to her knees, panting heavily, beads of sweat on her forehead. Mahad glanced down at her, then up to Atemu.

"My Pharaoh, I assure you we have both dedicated all of our awake hours to honing this craft and I'm sure that you'll see something more satisfactory in-" Mahad quickly spilled out, but Atemu raised his palm up towards him.

"It's good enough." Atemu said simply, eyes on the splinters of wood across the small room. "You've done well, Mahad. You as well Mana."

Mahad blinked stupidly for a second, again looking over at the remains of the chair, wondering if Mana had perhaps managed to blast a hole through the back wall of the room. "I-"

"I have seen what I need to see here." Atemu looked down at Mana, who was getting to her feet. "You've made me proud, young Mana. You may retire to your chamber if you wish for the remainder of the day."

Mana smiled as she rubbed the sweat from her brow, then bowed deeply to the Pharaoh before scampering out of the room through the door behind the Pharaoh. As soon as the door slid shut behind her, Seto turned to Atemu.

"I admire your patience, Pharaoh, but sparing the girl's feelings is not going to do us any good." He said, glancing at the door before looking back at his Pharaoh.

"I'm not sure I understand your meaning, High Priest." The Pharaoh said coolly, reaching toward his waist.

"She almost lost to a chair." Seto said, forehead wrinkling in confusion. "Had he brought a friend, she would have been doomed." He followed up sarcasticaly.

"I assure you, I know what I'm doing." He pulled a small scroll of paper from a pocket on his belt, handing it to Mahad who took it slowly. "Mana's showed me enough, she's ready to play her part in the advancement of my Empire."

Seto sucked his right cheek into his mouth for a second, then cleared his throat. "I trust your judgement, of course, Pharaoh."

Mahad unfurled the note and his eyes quickly danced across it, revealing nothing on his face as he did so.

"For the time being, I'll be keeping things need-to-know." Atemu added, as Seto stared at the note in Mahad's hands. "That's why the rest of the inner circle is not here. I'm sure you understand." He raised his eyebrows meaningfully at Seto.

"Of course." Seto nodded.

"Now, I believe you'll be needing the assistance of Mahad for tonight." Atemu said, looking over at Mahad as he did so.

"What's tonight?" Mahad asked, walking over to the walltorch behind him and setting the small note aflame, letting the burning piece of parchment fall to the ground.

"All prisoners in Cairo have been transferred to Daphnae Penitentiary, the most secure prison in all of Egypt." Atemu explained. "So, we know exactly where the Thief King is going to be tonight."

"If I may, Pharaoh." Mahad interjected. "I don't believe this Thief King is above using his jailbreak claims as a decoy, drawing our attention while he attacks elsewhere."

"The thought occurred to me." Atemu said simply. "I suspect Bakura thinks himself unstoppable, that he can do as he pleases without concern. Such a man does not bother with misdirection and decoys. Besides, releasing all of the prisoners in Egypt would create the chaos he desires, perhaps more than anything else he could do."

"So Daphnae is to be a trap for the Thief King then?" Mahad asked. "But you gave Mana the rest of the day off-"

"Mana will have her part to play in this." Atemu cut him off casually. "Not tonight, however."

"With all due respect, my Pharaoh, what else could we possibly use to trap him? He's already cut through dozens of armed guards and soldiers, even the hardened sentries of Daphnae don't stand-" Mahad insisted, but the Pharaoh continued to dismiss his words.

"High Priest Seto has a plan, one that you're to help him with." Atemu said. "He'll give you all the particulars."

"Understood." Mahad gave a small bow.

"I will defeat this Thief King, and Egypt will come back stronger than ever, my trusted Priests." Atemu said. "I have seen it in my mind, last night as I put together the final pieces to this puzzle. But please remember, it's all dependent on everyone playing their part. That means people like you two. Follow my orders to the letter, whether or not you fully understand them."

Atemu turned around to look at the door to the small room, staring at it for a few seconds. "Seto, how's your father?"

"My-...Aknadin? Well, I...well, I believe he's doing quite good...do you not see him frequently? Has he been acting strange?"

Atemu sighed heavily. "I fear he's the traitor." Seto flinched at this, but Atemu paid it no heed. "I've been thinking about it a lot recently. It fits, doesn't it? He's the odd man out. A carry-over from my father's reign. I was never even sure if he liked me. He tried to wrest the kingdom away from me years ago, after my father went comatose. Remember?"

Seto nodded stiffly. "...yes, sir, I remember."

"I can come to no other conclusion." Atemu said sadly. "Someone in my inner circle plots against me, I know it. I truly hate to suspect any of them, but...but Aknadin's the only one with motive." Atemu stood there, in a stony silence, for several seconds. "I'm going to place him under house arrest tomorrow, and this conversation is not to leave this room. But I wanted your opinion before I moved against him. Speak freely."

Seto inhaled deeply. "I respect your thought process, Pharaoh." Seto said slowly. "But before you do anything against my father, I ask you remember all the things he has done for this country and for your reign."

"So have all those in my inner circle. And yet here we are." Atemu countered.

"Aknadin is a man who has given his whole life to serve the Pharaoh, to serve Egypt. I know him better than anyone, and while he was not a childhood friend or someone you handpicked, he has always had full respect for you and all you have done for Egypt. I can not believe such a man would assist a terrorist to destroy all he has worked so hard to build." Seto continued.

"So you do not believe your father is working with Bakura?" Atemu inferred, his expression serene even as Seto's face turned red.

"Absolutely not." Seto said strongly.

"Then who?" Atemu continued to goad.

Seto swallowed hard, looking down at the floor before turning his gaze back to Atemu. "Perhaps there...there is no traitor. A palace guard or servant, perhaps, but maybe suspecting the inner circle is...is-"

"Paranoia?" Atemu finished, raising his eyebrows.

"...is premature." Seto finally got out.

"I appreciate your input." Atemu said lightly, turning to Mahad as Seto glared at Atemu's back. "You?"

"...you mean...Aknadin?" Mahad stumbled, eyes widening slightly. "Well...Aknadin is a man who has...has taught me a lot. I think he's taken all of us under his wing at some point. I've never suspected him of anything, never had anything bad to say about him. So...if you want my opinion, I don't believe Aknadin capable of such evil acts. I don't suspect anyone in your inner circle, my Pharaoh."

"Thank you, both of you." Atemu took a couple steps toward the door. "Lay the trap and make the arrangements. I'm sorry to bring this up now, but I felt that I must. I appreciate the trust and respect you have for Aknadin, and if you think I'm being paranoid, I understand. Aknadin will have the opportunity to prove himself innocent." He turned to look back at Seto. "As you know, I am fair."

Seto nodded shortly. "Of course, sir."

With that, Atemu took the last few steps to the door, opened it, stepped through it, and shut the door behind him softly.

Seto slowly stepped over to Mahad's side. "He's testing me." He said slowly, pointing at the door. "My father would never do something like this, and he knows it."

"We'll know tomorrow." Mahad responded. "I don't know, he seems serious."

"...I wish I could see his mind." Seto grunted. "All of this, it doesn't add up, it doesn't make sense. I don't understand what he's doing, what he's thinking."

"All we can do is believe in him." Mahad said. "Now, you needed my help with something?"

Seto slowly turned to look at Mahad, remaining silent for a long time. "...yes. We have a trap to lay."

""""

A beam of energy blasted a gaping hole into the two-foot thick stone wall that surrounded the entire compound, breaking the silence of the cool night with great aplomb. Screams echoed through the air as a few guards who were patrolling behind the wall were crushed under the flying rock. Immediately, several dozen sentries ran madly towards the breach, swords out, even as others retreated back into the large prison compound, re-enforcing the security within.

Another explosion erupted in the area of the wallhole, sending dozens of bodies flying through the air like ragdolls along with chunks of rock and dirt. As the dust from that attack cleared, a handful of cloaked men swept through the gap, spreading out in the grass courtyard as arrows began to rain down from the roof of the prison. It took just seconds for another explosion to blast near the top of the massive building, sending concrete in all directions and opening up a gap to the inside of the structure.

A final cloaked figure finally appeared through the gap, the white haired Thief King, who waved his hand toward the building's roof, causing a series of explosions to rip through the wall near the roof. The archers neutralized for the time being, the attackers moved forward without resistance.

The grouping came to the steel back door, unprotected. The Thief King beckoned one of them to open it, so the one nearest quickly stepped forward and pushed the heavy gateway open, the hinges squealing loudly.

The Thief King lightly stepped through the opened door, looking around the dull gray cafeteria, plain wooden tables and chairs lining the large room. Bakura looked around casually, wondering why there had been no attempted ambush at the door.

Shrugging it off, he motioned for his men to begin sweeping through the prison, looking for the easiest way to release the prisoners. They did so, moving into the structure then shuffling off in every direction.

Bakura moved straight forward, through the tables, his eye on the doors across the room. Looking around cautiously as he moved, he got to the door and placed his hand on the handle.

As soon as he did, the gray steel door began to glow a bright blue, drawing his attention. Before he could even think to react, the door erupted into a green fireball, blasting right into the body of Bakura and sending him flying back into the cafeteria, slamming hard into a wooden table and turning it into lumber.

A searing pain in his torso and right leg, Bakura could feel his consciousness leaving him. Desparately, he tilted his head up, forcing his watering eyes open.

The High Priest was standing in front of him, having emerged from the now doorless gateway, several Egyptian Soldiers behind him, quickly sweeping around Seto to grab Bakura.

His body lifted up by the soldiers, he felt his cloaks being roughly removed and his body being searched for any items. A second later, he was slammed down on his back on one of the standing wooden tables. Seto came into his vision, just as he was losing it, and the last thing he heard was the High Priest's voice.

"We got you." And with that, he could stay awake no longer.

""""

Atemu looked the bronze door, thick and heavy, up and down as the four soldiers in the small transition room bowed low to him. He motioned for them to rise, looking at the door handle.

"It's secure?" He said simply at the one to the immediate right of the door.

"He's restrained." The guard said simply.

"It's not his physical abilities I'm concerned with." Atemu responded, folding his arms over his chest. "As I recall, my instructions were to execute him before he woke up."

"This was found in his pockets." The guard answered, holding up a vial of green liquid. "Mahad inspected it. It's a potion that simulates black magic."

Atemu snatched it from the guard's fingers, holding it up to the light. After a couple seconds, he nodded and grabbed the round door handle. Pulling the bronze slab toward him, he slipped into the room and shut it behind him.

In the small room of gray concrete blocks, lit by two torches on the sidewalls, there was a massive steel pillar right in the middle. Two thick chains of gray steel extended from holes halfway up the pillar, reaching down, clasping down on the wrists of a middle-aged man with large, spiky white hair and pale skin, holding them up at angles near his head. He had been forced into a kneeling position, his shins strapped to the ground with steel strips. Finally, his forehead and neck had been forced back against the pillar, steel rings securing them. His cloak had been removed, leaving him in just his pants. He was grimacing in discomfort, but as soon as he laid eyes on the Pharaoh he cracked a smile.

"Evening." Atemu said, slowly stepping towards the restrained Bakura.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" Bakura sneered.

"For you, I make an exception." Atemu countered, looking down at his bound nemesis. "I couldn't miss this." He looked over the scars on the chest of the prisoner. "So. Bakura the Thief King. Who are you really?"

Bakura glared up at the Pharaoh, his fingers wriggling back and forth in their chains. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're no magician." Atemu held the small vial up in front of him, showing it to Bakura. "Artificial. Not that I'm surprised, you didn't strike me as the black magician type." He slipped it into his robes. "Mahad should get a kick out of analyzing this. It's funny, had you actually been a magician, you would have been executed immediately while unconscious. But, since you're apparently just another helpless mortal without your potion...well, this is even better." He leaned forward slightly. "Where'd you get it?"

"Thousands of miles south of here, in lands even you can't imagine." Bakura responded, lips curling up into a demented smile. "When you have as much gold and as few morals as I, you can get anything if you set your mind to it. But nobody knows that better than you, isn't that right?"

"Well, I hope you had fun with it. You did cause a lot of damage." Atemu leaned his right hand against the steel pillar, now towering over his prisoner. "Now-"

"I believe it's my turn to ask a question, False Pharaoh." Bakura spat.

"You don't get a turn." Atemu hissed back, grabbing Bakura's hair and pulling up on it hard, making him wince. "This is my prison, my palace, my city, my empire, my rules."

"Sha'nt give answer if you don't let me have my turns." Bakura said through gritted teeth, as Atemu let go of his hair.

Atemu considered him for several seconds, his chest heaving with each breath he took. "Fine. Ask away."

"How in the name of Ra did you cook that up?" He growled. "I'm really curious."

"You're a grand criminal, Thief King. But you left one loose end." Atemu said, smirking. "And it has undone you. You remember your attack on my palace? The bedroom?"

"Ah yes." Bakura nodded slightly. "The explosion your little whore queen managed to survive?" There was short pause as Atemu stared at Bakura blankly. "What? You're not even man enough to punch me after that?"

"I don't have to." Atemu said smoothly. "You're the one in chains. In any case, one of my priests was at the scene to handle your magical fire. She contained it, imprisoned it in an orb. And although my priests can't generate black magic, they can manipulate it. And they did, cooking up that clever little trap."

"Well played." Bakura conceded. "And I'm the last person who'd give you an ounce of respect."

"Now then. Thief King Bakura is a fairy tale, a fable made up by small time crooks, we both know that. So, my question is, what's your real name and who are you really?" Atemu continued.

Bakura gave a choked laugh, then grunted. "Thief King Bakura is not a person, false Pharaoh. It's a title. A symbol. One that criminals all across the globe can look at and feel inspiration. It's been around for hundreds of years. My father, and his father before him, they were the Thief King Bakura. And now it's me. For hundreds of years, we've served as the royalty of the criminal underworld, heading the charge against peace and order everywhere. Our supply of gold and jewels knows no limit and is added to every day, our brotherhood expands on a constant basis, and even a man who fancies himself a god such as yourself could not stop us."

"I don't fancy myself a god." Atemu interrupted. "The gods have chosen to favor me."

"Whatever." Bakura snarled. "Thief King Bakura is very real, false Pharaoh. And I am nothing if I am not Thief King Bakura. I have no other name or identity, and if I did it's gone now. But you can not kill me then, can you?" He started to smile dementedly again. "I have become that title. And you can't kill a title no matter how you might try. Rip my body to shreds, burn the pieces to ash, and you will have done nothing. Another will claim the title and he will come to take your throne. So really, no matter what you do, you can't kill me in any meaningful way." He turned his head slightly to the right, spitting. "Does that answer your question?"

Atemu nodded. "Your turn." He said grudgingly.

"No one's listening into our conversation, so you can be honest with me." Bakura began, glancing to his left and right before continuing. "Do you know anything about your ancestors?"

"What are you babbling about?" Atemu growled.

"Let me tell you a little story. It's about your ancestors, you'll want to hear this." Bakura cleared his throat. "Five hundred years ago, there was no Egypt, nothing but empty desert. No kingdom, no empire, nothing. The gods wanted a grand kingdom, one that would be a testament to their will and power, one that would become the dominant superpower in the world and be the mortal representation of their dominance. But the gods could not agree on who would be named to rule this kingdom. Each had mated several times with mortal women prior, and from these unions, demigods were born. Each wanted a demigod of their seed to be the ruler of their earthly kingdom. It was decided that the demigods would fight each other for supremacy, the winner would become Pharaoh of the newly formed Egypt."

"You think I don't know this story?" Atemu rolled his eyes. "All Egyptian children know that story. I even know how it ends. A demigod born of Atum, God of Creation, claimed victory over all others and was named Pharaoh. That man was my ancestor, and handed the throne down the family line until it has now arrived to me."

"That's only a small piece of the story." Bakura hissed, a crazed gleam in his eyes. "No wonder Egyptian children grow up so stupid these days. I have ties back to the age before Egypt as well. For my ancestor was made from the seed of Set, and set his eyes on the throne as well." He coughed. "He cut through a hundred demigods, walking the entire planet in search of them. And it wasn't enough to kill them. He robbed them of their powers first. With each kill, he grew stronger. The gods were so impressed by him, they wondered if he might be allowed into the pantheon. Nobody was going to stop him. The throne was his."

"Well, that's funny." Atemu said, playing along. "You'd think our positions would be reversed right now-"

"I'm getting to that!" Bakura barked, spittle flying everywhere. "But...but Atum...he could not stand being beaten by Set. He would not have it. As my ancestor beared down on the last few remaining demigods, Atum set the events in motion that led to your ancestor finding the Blade of Heliopolis." He grimaced. "With that blade at his side, no being with so much as a drop of mortal blood could stand against him."

"Sounds like a nice sword." Atemu mocked, smiling.

"Don't you get it!" Bakura yelled, now pulling on the chains. "He cheated! Your ancestor, he cheated! The throne belonged to my family, my ancestor had the rightful claim to it! Atum knew it, and intervened! It would have been my ancestor on the throne! It would have been me!"

"Is this a long story?" Atemu asked casually, looking down at the fingernails of his right hand.

"With that blade, Atum's favored son struck down the rightful Pharaoh." Bakura said bitterly. "Robbed him of all the power my ancestor had taken from those he had defeated, sacrificed it to the pantheon in exchange for good fortune for Egypt. Then he beat the god out of my ancestor, rendered him a pure mortal." He huffed a big breath. "But he would not kill him. No. He chose to instead drive him to insanity first. He chose to break him. My ancestor was told that he would be allowed to die only after he lay broken before the false Pharaoh, kiss his feet, acknowledge that he was the true and rightful Pharaoh and then beg for death. The False Pharaoh captured my ancestor's wife, tortured her to insanity right in front of him. Every day he was put through unimaginable pain each day concluding with the opportunity to break and end it." Bakura paused, swallowing hard. "My ancestor lived for another sixty years after his capture and never broke. He didn't even bend. He died with his dignity and honor, refusing to waver from what he knew to be the truth."

"That's too bad." Atemu said absentmindedly. "Now, if that's your concern, don't worry, you won't be alive anywhere near sixty years from now."

"Don't promise what you can't deliver." Bakura spat. "Why am I even still alive if you intend to kill me?"

"That's easy." Atemu stepped toward the door. "You've got a hideout with a mountain of gold and jewels, right? Well, I want it, and you're going to tell me where I can find it."

Bakura sneered. "You think you can break me? As I just explained, I have a lot to live up to in terms of withstanding pain, and I don't intend to disappoint my ancestors."

"Everyone has their limit." Atemu said, waving his hand toward his prisoner. "Some people just don't know it. Don't worry, you'll know what true pain is first thing in the morning when my interrogators go to work on you. You'll be begging to give up your hideout in three days tops." He looked back at his prisoner. "Then, then you can die, and trust me by then death will be a dream."

"It's really a shame I had to be unconscious when you were dragging me through the palace." Bakura interrupted. "I mean...these are the royal prison rooms, aren't they?" He looked around at the blank walls with his eyeballs, head still mostly locked in place. "I would have liked to have gotten a good look at my new palace for the first time in person."

"I wouldn't worry about this palace, Thief King." Atemu said simply, grabbing the door handle. "The only time you'll be seeing the outside of this room is if I decide to hold a public execution. Anything else you'd like to say? It really is past my bedtime."

"Yeah." Bakura grunted. "I need to pee."

Atemu shrugged, opening the door, looking down at the ground right in front of Bakura. "Go right ahead." With that, he slipped out of the chamber, shutting the brass door behind him.


	9. Faith Tested

Chapter 9: Faith Tested

Atemu casually strolled into through the doorway into his bedroom, Teana laying back on the bed to his left, rubbing her stomach. He threw himself onto the bed next to her, his right hand coming to lay on her stomach. He patted it as she looked up at him, a weary smile on her face.

"Hi." She said quietly. "I feel better today."

"That's good." He said, kissing her on the forehead. "What's your feeling? Prince or Princess?"

"Oh...you're silly." She said, lightly pushing on his right shoulder with her left hand.

"Well, if he's a boy, given that he's my child, he should be carrying an extra three pounds by now-"

"Oh, knock it off!" She exclaimed playfully, lightly punching his right shoulder. "Oh, uh...how did it go?"

Atem rolled over slightly, away from Teana, laying on his back fully now. "Perfect. The Thief King is locked away deep within my dungeons, the source of his power taken."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" She said, clasping her hands over her chest. "You've done it again! Egypt is safe."

"Not even close." Atem said, the smile fading from his face. "Not even close."

Teana's smile faded almost as quickly as his. "Y'know, I was thinking...how nice would it be if our third child got to be born into a time of peace? If he could be welcomed into a world free of war, a secure nation that will remain impregnable for a hundred years. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Yes." Atem replied flatly. "Yes it would. It would also be nice if I possessed the powers of Ra and could bend the sun to my will. But some things simply can't happen."

She propped her head up on her right hand, elbow planted into the mattress. "Can you at least think about it?" She pleaded, putting her left hand on her left hip.

"I don't want to hear it." He grumbled. "I am on the verge of sealing my dominance over this world for the centuries to come, I will not entertain notions of forging a truce now."

"Seal-sealing your dom-have you gone mad?" She retorted hotly, scowling. "You know full well what's going on here! You sat in this very room and told me! We're months away from-"

"I don't want to hear it." Atemu repeated, through gritted teeth. "Remember your place."

"It's right beside you." She spat back. "Or that's what you told me. You're not even listening to me!"

"I don't want to hear it!" He snapped, rolling over to look back at his wife, eyes fiery and mouth twisted into a scowl. "This conversation is over. You are Queen of Egypt only by my good graces, and you _will_ honor me as such! These decisions are not yours to make!"

Rolling back over, he heard his wife jump off the bed and onto the floor. With a large scowl still plastered on her face, she walked around the bed, towards the door, Atemu choosing to not look at her as she did so.

"Bye." She said coldly, shutting the door behind her. Atem rolled back over to look up at the ceiling.

""""

Priest Seto leaned forward in the simple wooden chair, left elbow on the wooden table in front of him, chin propped in his left hand. He glared at the beige stone wall opposite him, drumming his right hand's fingers on the table. The room was as simple as they came, just stone on all sides with that plain furniture and walltorches the only objects decorating it. A small wooden door was to Seto's right, the only way out of the room. His eyeballs rotated to his left, a scowl on his face and his eyes reflecting annoyance as he looked at Priestess Isis sitting next to him, petting a middle-sized gray and white cat that was laying on his back on the table.

"Awww...that's a good boy." She was baby-talking to the feline, purring in contentment as Isis stroked his neck. "Such a handsome boy, yes you are." She continued. Seto rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Who's the good boy? Who's the good boy? Mmhmm, Ubasti, yes you are!"

The cat rolled over, getting to his feet and stretching. Slowly, he strode over to Seto, rubbing his cheeks on Seto's forearms.

"Ubasti, _get_ outside!" He roared, smacking the cat off the table, sending it flying to the stone floor toward the door. "I don't wanna see your ugly face in here!" He growled, pointing at the door.

"Seto!" Isis narrowed her eyes at her fellow High Priest. "How-"

"Ge-_get outside!"_ He repeated, thrusting his right index finger toward the door.

"What's wrong with you today?" She said icily, folding her arms over her chest.

"I hate that cat." He spat, glaring at the small animal who was looking up at Seto reproachfully. "_GET OUTSIDE!"_

"Don't be ridiculous." She huffed, standing up. "Cats can't open doors."

Seto glared at her as she bent down to pick Ubasti up, no response to her sarcastic retort.

"There's nothing wrong with my cat." She insisted haughtily, nose up in the air as she walked back over to sit next to Seto.

"He smells." Seto grunted, still looking away from his companion.

"No he doesn't." Isis held Ubasti up toward the back of Seto's head, so his face was nearly touching. "Smell him."

"I don't need a reason." He replied through gritted teeth, still not turning around.

"If you're going to be like this, you can leave." She said, pointing her right index finger toward the door now. "Between you and Ubasti I'm picking him."

"Oh, I'd _love _to leave! Being that this is a complete waste of time!" He gestured toward the wall across the table from him, behind which was the well-restrained Thief King Bakura. "Extra security? I suppose the chains and the two foot thick walls and the locks aren't enough. _Nooo_, Atemu _just_ HAS to waste my time here-"

"Seto." Isis said, now serious. "Stop it."

"He's paranoid! Don't you see it?" He said cryptically, turning around to face Isis. "He's jumping at every creek of a floorboard, flinching every time he sees sudden movement-"

"Seto, calm yourself!" She said strongly. "What has gotten into you?"

Seto took a few deep breaths, glaring down at the floor. "It's...it's Atemu. I-"

"The Pharaoh." She corrected sternly, setting her cat back down on the table.

"He...The Pharaoh...he thinks my father's a traitor." He said quickly, turning back around to face the door. "He thinks he conspired with the Thief King, and intends to arrest him tomorrow."

He waited for her reaction, but there was only silence following his statement.

"What? Do you agree?" He snapped, turning his head around halfway to glare at her out of the corner of his eye.

"He already told me." She responded. "Yesterday."

"Oh, spendid." He growled. "He saved me for last then?"

"How should I know?" She said. "Can you stop-"

"I've spent my whole life serving Egypt. Just like my father. My father served his. And this is how we're rewarded?" He turned his body toward Isis, a fiery passion reflecting in his eyes. "Don't you see? You give everything you have to a country...to a man...and this is what he thinks of you. My father has given nearly sixty years to this country, and The Pharaoh still thinks nothing of him."

"I'm sure The Pharaoh has full respect for the service Aknadin has rendered, and has a very good reason for his actions." Isis replied simply, as if this closed the matter.

"And yet, here we are." He countered, turning to face away from the table, elbows on his knees as he leaned over, hands clasped in front of him. "I've thought of little else since he told me of his suspicions, even as I laid the Thief King's trap my thoughts were on this. He has no right-"

"Yes he does." Isis interrupted, to Seto's further annoyance. "We have to believe in him. We have to have trust that he knows what he's doing. I don't believe your father capable of betraying Egypt either-"

"Did you tell him that?" Seto cut in, looking up at her.

Isis nodded. "He asked for my honest opinion. I told him I did not believe Aknadin would ever do something like this."

"Well that goes to show you how much he values our opinions." Seto said bitterly, looking back down at the floor.

Seto couldn't help but furrow his brow in surprise when Isis patted him on the upper back a few times with her right hand.

"I...I understand." She finally said. "It's difficult, and if I was in your position I'd be mad too."

"Sixty years of service, doesn't count for anything all of a sudden." He mumbled.

"You still carried out the plan to capture the Thief King on his orders." She reminded him. "That was just hours ago. If you didn't believe in him, would you have done that?"

"Maybe it wasn't for him." He said darkly. "The Thief King is a horrible criminal, a terrorist, a blight on humanity. He had to be stopped. Maybe I did it because of that."

"Maybe." She said tartily, going back to stroking her cat. "But that wasn't the case, now was it? Now, you've spent your whole life having faith that Pharaoh Atemu would do the right thing. It would not reflect well on you if you abandoned that now in a time of hardship."

Seto grunted, sitting back up straight and turning around to face the table.

"Now. Say you're sorry." She said, holding the cat up in front of her.

He looked over at Isis. "Alright. I'm sorry...I'm not mad at-"

She shook her head, pointing at the cat. "To Ubanti."

Seto groaned. "It's a _cat_."

"Say. You're sorry." She repeated firmly.

Seto fought off the urge to roll his eyes and gave a dramatic sigh. "Fine. I'm-"

He never got a chance to finish, for he was rudely interrupted by an explosion and a sharp, jagged piece of stone slamming into his chest, knocking him backwards on the chair. The table was sent flying over his body into the opposite wall as Isis joined the ground next to him, clutching at him as more rubble scattered across the room violently.

They looked up to see a very much free Thief King Bakura, his hands glowing yellow, giving a wide grin at the pair.

Seto scrambled to his feet as fast as he could, clutching Isis in his left arm and Ubanti in his right as he threw himself into the wooden door as hard as he could, knocking it open with a dull thunk and throwing himself into the next room as a beam of energy emitted from Bakura toward where the pair had just been standing, blasting a huge hole in the opposite wall.

Seto threw a quick look back at the damage before herding the High Priestess and her cat toward the stone staircase to their right as fast as he could.

"We have to divert him from the palace!" He shouted over the sounds of another explosion, taking the steps two at a time. "He'll make for Pharaoh Atemu!"

"Get everyone outside, he'll try and destroy the palace!" She added, looking around fearfully as Seto guided her up the steps.

They came to the top of the staircase and stepped out into a hallway filled with confused guards with their blades out, looking to charge down the staircase themselves.

"Evacuate the palace! Protect The Pharaoh!" Seto roared, blowing past the collection of guards, finally letting go of Isis as the two began a mad dash down the hall. Within a split second the guards complied, following in the footsteps of the two High Priests as another explosion rocked the palace.

""""

Seto and Isis flew down the steps that led up to the Pharaoh's palace, followed a few steps behind by a few dozen guards surrounding Pharaoh Atem and Queen Teana, who held their two children in tow. Seto threw his glance back at the large proceeding every few seconds until they were at the base of the stairs and at the pathway that led out of the gates into the city. They all stopped and looked up at the massive structure, which stood steady and showed no ill signs from the chaos within.

"Pharaoh, Queen, we should get to an underground bunker!" Seto instructed.

Atemu simply held out his hand toward Seto, eyes still on his palace.

"Pharaoh, I-" Seto continued, but Isis grabbed his right hand, drawing his attention to her.

She pointed off to her right, causing Seto to look off into the distance in that direction, parallel to the wall that encircled the Pharaoh's palace. There was the unmistakable billowing of smoke coming from a structure some distance away. Seto quickly referred to the map inside his head, coming to the realization that this smoke was eminating from High Priest Mahad's palace.

"Mahad!" He exclaimed, looking back at the Pharaoh. "But why would he-"

"He's after the girl." Atemu realized, suddenly dashing down the path toward the gate by himself. "Mana."

"Pharaoh Atemu, please!" Seto called out, chasing after him as he headed toward the palace gates. "You have to get to safety."

"I am in no danger." Atemu insisted, waving to the soldiers flanking the gate to begin the process of opening it.

"Pharaoh, please-" Seto continued to press as the iron gate was swung open slowly by a lever.

"Seto." Atemu said, suddenly stopping and turning to face his High Priest. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm not going to go and hide while the fate of my kingdom is at stake. You can either help me or get out of my way, right now."

Seto stiffened, the drop in adrenaline bringing back his thoughts of a few minutes ago as he looked at the man he served, up and down. "I...yes, sir." He finally said.

He turned to beckon to the collection of guards, Isis, and Teana to follow as the pair sprinted through the open gates out into the city.

""""

The collection of Egyptians ran into the front courtyard of Mahad's palace, a smoking hole in the side of the structure, guards scattering from within out onto the marble steps into the courtyard.

Amidst that scramble was High Priest Mahad himself, his eyes immediately finding the Pharaoh and scrambling down the steps to meet him. The proceeding halted, waiting for him to come down to them.

Suddenly, Seto's flustered mind processed something important he had forgotten, and with a jump he turned to the Queen.

"Queen Teana, you shouldn't be here!" He said, running over to her. "I...I don't know what I was thinking, you should-"

"I'm safest here." She insisted, holding her young daughter in her arms. "No bunker can protect me as well as a High Priest."

Seto flinched at the compliment, shaking it off and nodding. "Thank you, Queen."

"He's gone." Atemu proclaimed, listening for further explosions and hearing none as the remaining inhabitants of the palace dispersed. "How did-"

"I will begin an investigation immediately." Seto said sternly, crossing his left arm over his chest and bowing. In truth, he just didn't want the Pharaoh to get to a point where he would start accusing his father even more than he already was.

"Mahad." Atemu said as the High Priest ran up to the group, panting heavily. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes." He said, standing up as straight as he could. "B-b-but I'm afraid there was nothing we could do to stop the Thief King."

"I don't understand, he had every opportunity to blow the Pharaoh's palace to pieces, why didn't he-" Isis started to ponder, but Atemu already held the answer.

"He had a limited supply of magic." He answered. "He needed to focus on his primary objective."

"He took Mana, and the vial." Mahad said bitterly. "I am sorry, we did all we could to fight him off...but-"

"I understand." Atemu said, his expression flat and untelling. "You did all you could."

Seto couldn't help but take notice of his reasonable nature inspite of all this.

"He took flight the moment he got what he wanted, went to the east." Mahad explained. "He may have very well left the country by now."

"More likely back to his hideout." Atemu reasoned. "We need to have this mess cleaned up."

Seto looked back over at the hole in the side of the massive palace, this time his eyes lingering on a corpse a few feet from the gap. His heart suddenly jumped up into his throat as he made out, over a great distance, the robes of a High Priest, wrinkled face, and gray beard.

He stood frozen to the spot for a few seconds, shocked out of his stupor by a meow from under his arm. Looking down, he found Isis's cat still lodged firmly in his armpit. The ridiculousness of him carrying a cat this whole time was lost on him, however, as he simply let the animal fall to the ground and broke off into a sprint toward the body.

The rest of the group watched him in surprise as he ran off, Teana suddenly clasping her hands over her mouth as she realized what she was looking at. Atemu realized it a second after Teana and took off into a jog toward his most trusted High Priest, who was now leaning over the body that most certainly had to belong to Aknadin.

Seto held up his arm, fingers wrapped around his wrist, looking at his chest and mouth, trying to find a hidden sign of life of the man laying in the sand. But there was nothing to indicate he was clinging to the mortal coil anymore, and slowly, as Atemu and the rest of the group came to stand behind him, the ice-cold realization gripped his stomach and squeezed.

"Ohmigod...Seto, I'm so sorry." Teana squeaked. Seto continued to kneel there, his expression stoic as he looked down at his dead father.

Slowly, he stood up, feeling a hand patting his back lightly. He turned to find a downcast Isis doing so, then slowly turned back to look at the corpse.

"I'm...I'm sorry." Atemu said, looking at the back of Seto's head. "He...he was the finest High Priest this country had ever known."

Seto felt some flames of anger kick up in his chest. He turned around, looking at nothing in particular, staggering through the crowd of soldiers. Halfway through the sea of people, he stopped, still looking at nothing.

"P-prepare him for mummification." He got out robotically. "I shall retire to my bed now." Immediately, four soldiers approached the corpse, preparing to haul it off.

"Seto, I'm-" Atemu tried to repeat, but Seto committed the sin of cutting the Pharaoh off.

"I suppose this makes things easier for you." Seto said, still just looking off into the distance.

"...I never wanted Aknadin to die." Atemu said, taken aback by Seto's statement.

"No. But it does work to your advantage." Seto said bitterly, continuing his stagger through the ground, back toward the gate, leaving everyone else to just look at his back.


	10. All Part of the Plan

Chapter 10: All Part of the Plan

Deep within the Pharaoh's palace, in one of the most secure rooms, a somber picture was painted. In the chamber of light brown stone walls, tiled floors, and sparse decorations of tapestries, there was a polished, dark brown wooden table, one ornately carved chair at the head and five on either side. At the head, as always, sat Pharaoh Atemu, but the room was oddly unpopulated given the gravity of this situation. Nobody sat to the Pharaoh's immediate right, and although Mahad and Buhen took their usual places on the second and third chairs on that side, the typically occupied fourth chair on that side was also unusually empty. Isis, Karim and Shada filled out the left side of the table, as usual, although those who were present were awfully quiet.

Finally, Karim decided to break the din. "The investigation gave no explanation for the Thief King's escape."

"Perhaps he really was a wizard." Buhen responded, similarly quiet and robotic in speech.

"He wouldn't have bothered taking the vial if he didn't need it." Isis pointed out.

"You can close that investigation." Atemu said, the first words he had spoken since the meeting had commenced, his voice throaty. Everyone turned to look at him intently. "He smuggled some of his magic potion in."

"He was searched a dozen times!" Shada insisted defensively. "It would have-"

"It was in his urine." Atemu explained, the tiniest hints of blushes creeping into the cheeks of his inner circle, through the sorrow and fear. "He planned to be captured, he drank some of his potion before his attack."

"That would never work!" Mahad exclaimed, frowning. "That's...that's completely insane! It could burst into flames inside your stomach!"

"In case you haven't noticed, Mahad, the Thief King takes pride in his insanity." Atem countered quietly.

"He knew he was going to run out of magic eventually." Isis said, looking down at her hands, clasped in front of her laying on the table. "He needed another source. He needed Mana."

"With Mana in the hands of the Thief King, I don't know what our options are." Buhen lamented. "We...we have to get lucky, and lucky soon. Rumors of the Thief King's victory are spreading through Egypt as we speak, it won't be long before all faith is lost in our rule."

"When I was younger, I depended on luck." Atem responded. "A teenaged Pharaoh, forced onto the throne by unfortunate circumstances, the entire world against me. I might have flipped the coin once or twice. But I was young. Now, I make my own luck."

"What would you propose?" Mahad asked.

"My apologies for my tardiness."

Everyone in the room turned to look down the table, away from Atemu, toward the right corner of the opposite wall, where a bronze door had been silently pushed open. The head of High Priest Seto stuck through the gap, surveying the room with his large blue eyes.

"Enter." Atemu instructed, prompting Seto to step his entire body into the chamber and slide the door shut behind him. "Think nothing of it."

Seto quickly swept down the table, ignoring the many pairs of eyes following his movements across the brown tiled floor, coming to a halt behind the chair to the immediate right of Atemu. In a swift motion, he bowed to the Pharaoh, then pulled it out slightly and slid into the seat.

"I...I lost track of time." Seto said, voice shaking slightly.

"I understand." Atemu nodded. "Today is a very sad day, we have lost a great man, and I am truly sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Seto said quietly.

"He was a role model and teacher to us all." Isis added, prompting nods and murmurs of agreement from everyone else in the room.

"I also must apologize for my words last night." Seto continued, his eyes having never left the Pharaoh's. "I was out of line."

"What you said, you said in anger and grief, and I took no offense." Atemu gave a dismissive wave of his right hand at Seto.

"This Kingdom is in grave danger, and I do not want my grieving to interfere in the slightest with our efforts to protect it." Seto said, his voice stronger now.

Atemu nodded, turning back to face straight down the table. "Meeting dismissed."

Looks of confusion were traded up and down the long rectangular surface as Atemu gave a wan smile.

"Pharaoh, we have to plan out-" Shada began, but Atem silenced him with another dismissive wave.

"As I said. I make my own luck." Atemu repeated, staring Shada down as he did. "You're all about to learn a very important lesson." He turned back to look straight down the table, every other pair of eyes in the room on him. "One way or another, I always win."

"I don't understa-" Karim fell victim to yet another of Atemu's handwaves.

"You are all dismissed." Atemu said, finality in his voice. "Except for Seto." He amended, drawing all the attention toward his right hand man. Seto glared at Atemu, brow furrowed and eyes wide, for all the world looking as if he was a school child being called in for detention.

"Phar-" Mahad tried to get in his own objection, but Atemu merely stepped over his words this time.

"You are all dismissed, except for Seto." He repeated.

A long silence hung over the table. The scraping of Isis's chair as she stood up triggered similar movements all down the table, as everyone slowly got up, bowed, and strode toward the far right corner door.

Just before Isis stepped over the threshhold, Atemu raised his hand at the departing priests, causing them all to halt.

"Isis, could you please go see the girl's mother? She must be a wreck right now."

Isis nodded. "Of course sir."

Finally, the room was vacated outside of the two men, and the massive bronze weight was sealed, Atemu finally turning his gaze onto Seto.

"I again apolog-" Seto blurted out immediately.

"Lost track of the time?" Atemu recalled from the previous conversation, a tiny smile playing across his face.

Seto swallowed audibly, biting his lower lip and turning away from Atemu's gaze slightly. "No sir. I apologize. I...I did not wish to attend today's meeting."

Atemu nodded knowingly. "Truthfully, I did not expect to see you today."

"I offer my most sincere apologies for such disobedience." Seto rushed out.

"Believe it or not, Seto, I understand that my priests are humans. Even my high priest." Atemu said smoothly. "Your reactions are understandable, and I consider it a testament to your faith that you are here now. Now, what motivated you to come here?"

"Kisara." Seto replied simply, turning his eyes back to look at the Pharaoh. "She reminded me of something. Something I know, but chose to ignore. You are kind, wise, and fair. And maybe I don't understand everything, but I don't need to."

"Thank you." Atemu nodded.

"Now, this isn't what you wanted me to stay behind for, is it?" Seto asked, his face taking back on the stony mask that let no emotion out.

"Partially. We do have important matters to discuss." Atemu leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head.

"But you dismissed the meet-" Seto motioned around with his hands at the empty chairs.

"I'm keeping things as self-contained as possible." Atemu said simply, ignoring Seto's raised eyebrow. "I want you to send out a command to the barracks. I want scout teams dispersed everywhere in Egypt, all through the deserts, looking for the Thief King's hideout."

Seto stood stock still for several seconds, waiting for Atem's face to crack into a grin. It didn't happen, so Seto looked away and gave a quick shake of his head. "D-don't joke at a time like this." He mumbled. "Please, sir." He quickly added.

"Do you have a better idea, high priest?" Atemu asked daringly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"W-with all due respect, my Pharaoh, now that the Thief King has taken Mana we need to-" Seto continued to argue, struggling to keep his voice flat.

"Now that he's taken Mana?" Atemu snorted. "He's let the lion into the sheep's den."

Seto could not help but narrow his eyes, trying to find some hint on Atemu's face that he was kidding. A twitching smile, a flash in his eyes...but no. He was an exceedingly good actor, he had to admit.

"Pharaoh." Seto said sternly. "We both saw exactly what Mana is capable of. I was right there in the room."

Atemu merely stared at him for a few seconds, making Seto think he had perhaps gone too far. He was about to voice another apology, but Atemu finally cracked the silence. "I understand, you have many questions. Were I you and you me, it would be the same. I promise to answer everything, in good time. But not right now. I need you to trust me for a little longer. Everything is under control, Egypt is in no danger, and the Thief King is as good as ours. Right now, I need you to send a message to the barracks that scout teams need to be sent out."

Seto slowly stood up from the chair, pushing it away from the table with his back legs. Finally, he gave a small bow. "Of course. And if they ask what they're looking for?"

"Oh...tell them that they won't be able to miss it." Atemu replied cheerfully.

""""

After what felt like days of nothing but dull blackness, Mana's eyes were finally exposed to something different as the thick wool bag was pulled off of her head. She blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting to the bright lights being cast by the massive torches spread throughout the room.

Room being a term used loosely, for as she looked around, seeing the rough and uneven stone that created a sort of dome around and above her, and feeling the bumpy, sharp stone under her, she realized she was in a chamber of what appeared to be a giant cave.

She was on her knees, little hands tied behind her back and ankles bound together. Through slitted eyes she looked at the massive mountains of gold and jewels in every direction. Even given her situation, she couldn't help but be taken aback at the vast riches surrounding her. Finally, her eyes adjusted to the light, and she glared directly in front of her. For standing perhaps ten feet away, separated from Mana by a thin line of gold coins, was the Thief King himself.

"You!" She exclaimed.

"Welcome, my little meal ticket!" Bakura slowly strolled over towards her, as she tested the ropes around her wrists. "My, you are an adorable little thing!"

"Get away from me!" She yelped, falling backwards and scuttling herself across the floor away from Bakura.

"Oh...don't be like that." He hissed, coming to stand over her. "This is why you don't have any friends. You push everyone away." He picked her up by the collar of her shirt, lifting her up so they were nearly nose-to-nose. "I could be a friend to you, little Mana."

She shivered, bending her knees back. Her legs quickly uncoiled right into the Thief King's crotch, drawing a grunt of pain from him as he dropped her to the ground. She landed on her back, looking up to see the Thief King in the fetal position next to her, holding his groin in his hands, face twisted into a grimace.

"Alright. You want to play it that way?" Bakura slowly stood up, still hunched over. "We'll get right to the point."

"You let me go!" She shouted, rolling over onto her stomach.

"Oh, but we have so much to learn about each other!" He righted himself, forcing a malicious grin on his face, crossing his arms over his chest. "You should be excited, now you get to serve the real Pharaoh!"

"I'm not doing ANYTHING for you!" She insisted, looking up at her captor, scowling as strongly as her young face could.

"Oh, I think you'll find you just...won't be able to resist." Bakura said naughtily, sticking his left index finger into his mouth and sucking on it.

She looked around again. "Where are we?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, his crazed grin dropping. "What the hell do you mean, where are we? You're in my palace! The home of the Thief King legend for hundreds of years! Show some respect!" He turned around, walking over to one of the mounds of treasure. Unbeknownst to him, Mana gave a small smile.

"Your palace?" She repeated. The bounds on her wrists and ankles glowed a dark red suddenly, the fibers that made them up disappearing one by one.

"That's right, my palace!" He said, his hands picking up handfuls of the gold. "Of course, we'll be moving camp in a short time." He started rubbing the valuables on his face, enjoying their cold, dead touch. "With your help, soon I'll take the grand palace in Cairo. I'll miss this place, but you can't rule a kingdom in here." He dropped the baubles back into the massive pile. "At least, probably not."

The final strands of the ropes dissolved into nothingness, leaving her free to stand up. Her muscles ached from being tied up for such a long period of time, so she silently stretched her arms and legs out as Bakura continued to play with his treasure.

"I'm not helping you do anything!" She shouted, clenching and wiggling her fingers as she held her hands at her sides.

Bakura simply shrugged. "Hey, if you want to do this the hard way, I'm game." He threw a diamond the size of his fist up over the mountain, sending it flying across the chamber and clanking to the ground on the other side. "I mean, I'd tell you I don't want to hurt you. But I'd be lying, so-" He turned around, his words getting stuck his in throat as he saw the little girl standing there, quite free of any bonds, smiling mischieviously.

She gave a tiny wave as Bakura frowned. "How did you-"

Bakura was rudely interrupted by what felt very much like a steel wall crashing into him at a million miles an hour, crushing the air out of his lungs and sending him flying like a ragdoll across the chamber, as if in hot pursuit of the diamond he just threw. If that was his intention, he overshot it by a good two hundred feet, and the force of his impact on the far wall was more than enough to shatter any remaining ribs the initial impact had left.

Pleased with herself, Mana pointed her right hand up into the air at the stone dome that served as the ceiling to the chamber. With a flick of her wrist, a brilliant, white-blue cone of light was shot straight up, cutting through the stone as if it was parchment, ripping through several layers of rock without so much as a moment's pause as it made it's way to the exterior of the 'palace'.

The cone had expanded to perhaps a fifty foot diameter by the time it broke through to the outside, it's blinding glow roaring up into the skies as if it had an important date with the moon. It tore up right through the atmosphere and into the great unknown, now an unthinkably huge vortex of light.

Every citizen of Egypt gifted with functioning eyes saw it, almost all of them assuming it was a miracle and falling to their knees on the spot. Surrounding countries saw it, most of them hoping that Atemu had finally angered the gods enough for them to strike him down. Countries thousands miles away saw it, many thinking that perhaps those doomsday cults were right after all. And quite frankly, if there's alien life somewhere out there in the great unknown, they probably saw it too, and were probably suddenly very afraid of the capabilities of the humans in an intergalatic war.

So it goes without saying that Egyptian scouts saw it too, and it was only a matter of hours before several thousand soldiers of Pharaoh Atemu were picking up the pieces of the former Thief King's palace, with the dozens of Bakura's men who had survived the magical destruction begging to be arrested and promising to go quietly so long as that damned little girl would stay away from them.

""""

Atemu watched with great satisfaction from the top of the massive marble staircase in front of his palace, looking down at the procession of carriages that slowly beat down the sandy path from left to right using the strength of large, strong horses. To his left, all of his High Priests were aligned, watching the scene play out similarly. At his right side stood Teana, her eyes on the lead carriage, a smirk playing across her face.

"I don't believe it." She muttered. At the front of the carriage, right behind the pulling horse, sat the driver, a short muscular man holding the reigns. To his right, Mana was bouncing up and down in her seat, beaming up at the Pharaoh and his Queen. Behind them, right in front of the covered part of the carriage, was a steel chair with cuffs on the wrists, forearms, neck, chest, stomach, knees, and ankles, currently enclosed around the body of the Thief King, who looked very displeased as he was paraded in front of the palace. "How in the-"

"Pharaoh!" Mana yelled, jumping down from the carriage as it came to a halt. All of the following wagons made a stop in the sands as well, each a few meters apart.

Atemu slowly trotted down the marble, followed by his wife and his inner circle, as Mana took the steps two at a time up toward him.

Several steps later, the small girl met the party near the middle, embracing the Pharaoh's legs in a massive hug. The priests all stiffened at this, looking at Mana with some shock and disdain, but to their relief Atemu merely picked her up by her sides and kissed her on the forehead.

"I have kids, you know." He said tartily to his advisors, still moving down the steps. The priests all shared a quick smile.

"I'm very proud of you, Mana." Atemu said as they came closer and closer to the wagon party. "You've done this country a great service."

"Thank you!" She exclaimed happily, embracing Atemu's chest. "It's the least I can do!"

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked, moving her over to his right arm and holding her there, forearm under her rear. "Tired?"

She shook her head. "Not at all."

"Very good." Atemu nodded. "Very good."

They came to the lead wagon, Bakura still looking straight forward and doing everything he could to not acknowledge their presence.

"Oh, wonderful, you lived!" Atemu taunted. "I mean, I told Mana to give you one good pop just to be safe, but I was hoping you might live through it. You are a tough one!"

He gave a quiet growl. Atemu reached over, grabbing the right back chair leg and yanking it off the wagon, sending in crashing down into the sands. Bakura gave a yelp as gravity guided his graceless fall, the chair laying on it's side.

"This isn't over." He snapped, teeth bared almost like a wild animal. "This. Isn't. Over."

"The only thing that could possibly make this more over is your head mounted on my dining room wall." Atemu retorted, drawing a wrinkled nose from Teana. "We'll get to that shortly."

He looked at his priests and pointed down at the chair. Seto and Shada approached the upturned chair, grabbing the backrest and slowly picking it up. He snarled at them, clamping his jaws at them wildly, teeth still bared.

He was soon uprighted, looking down the sandy path at the line of wagons, his face red from sunburn and his eyes fiery.

Atemu waved his hand toward the wagons, not taking his eyes off the captured Thief King, as the covers on the back of the carriages were whipped off, revealing the countless treasures that had formerly been Bakura's.

"As we can see, my dear Bakura, there is nothing you possess that I can not take away." He smirked, infuriating Bakura. He began to violently shake back and forth in the chair, roaring and growling like a madman.

Several soldiers came forth from the wagons as well, having been sitting in the back of several of them, approaching the scene. They all bowed deeply to the figures of power before them before coming to a halt.

"Mana, you should go see your mother. She's worried sick." He set her down on the sands. Bakura glared at her, mustering up an evil glare that was particularly strong even for him. Mana simply stuck her tongue out at the fallen Thief King, turned to bow to the Pharaoh so her torso was very nearly horizontal with the ground, then started running away from the palace, toward the streets. Two of the soldiers split off from the group to escort her, chasing the excited youth down.

"Take him to the dungeons." He pointed at Bakura, prompting two more soldiers to come forth and carefully grab the backrest, lifting the chair up. "I have special plans for him, just take him to a holding cell."

The two moved as quick as they could with their heavy cargo, running back down the sandy path whence they came, headed for a side entrance that would take them down into the especially secure dungeon rooms. Atemu watched them disappear around his palace, then turned to head back up the steps.

His wife and inner circle were hot on his heels, all crowding around him expectantly. He remained silent as he made the trek up the steps, so all the high priests immediately began shooting glances at each other, none of them wanting the task of asking the all-important question.

Finally, Teana rolled her eyes and jumped in front of Atem, bringing him to a halt near the top of the steps. "Oh, Mighty Pharaoh, we would be eternally grateful if you might grace us mere mortals with your vast intellect and tell us how you managed such an incredible feat of trickery."

"Ah yes." He said playfully, stepping past Teana, picking her up and carrying her up the last few steps before setting her down. "I apologize for all the secret keeping, but now I suppose there is no harm in revealing the tricks of my trade."

He continued to slowly trot down the front entrance to his palace, all the priests leaning in, listening intently, with the exception of Mahad.

"First off, nobody is allowed to get mad at Mahad. I know you've all just been dying to know but he had specific instructions to not tell anyone under any circumstance." Atemu started, drawing the eyes of everyone else to Mana's instructor.

"Yes, yes, get on with it." Teana chided.

"It's been a very long time since black magic was in practice, and over those centuries, one simple fact was lost." Atemu explained, his audience hanging onto his every word. "Black magic feeds off life energy, and no one person contains enough life energy to do a significant amount of black magic." He lead the party into his dining room. "And yet, in the old days, magicians did great and powerful things with their sorcery. So, how did they do it?"

"It was very rarely their life energy." Mahad explained.

"Correct!" Atemu walked past the long wooden table, his companions being towed behind him by his words. "By ancient ritual, the life energy of others could be sacrificed to the magician, who could then use it as he or she saw fit. In the old days, magicians would kidnap and sacrifice dozens of humans before they performed any particularly great feats. Even a prime, well-conditioned man who wielded black magical powers could do little more than knock down a few stone walls before collapsing from exhaustion."

"Was that the missing piece this whole time?" Buhen asked.

"Partially. In any case, I was able to recover the details of the ritual, and after the sacrifice of a hundred criminals who had been previously sentenced to death, Mana had more than enough energy to knock the Thief King for a loop." Atem turned around to face his followers as they came to the head of the table, grinning. "And that about wraps it up."

The priests and Teana all nodded amongst each other.

"How could such an obvious fact be forgotten by the history books?" Isis asked herself, left index finger on her chin.

Atemu shrugged. "People are often careless. What seemed like a given then can be a forgotten treasure now. In any case, as last night's little lightshow has proven, we now have everything we need to re-invigorate our aggressive expansions."

"Wait-wait-wait." Teana interjected, holding her hands out in front of her towards her husband, palms out. "What are you talking about?"

"I never planned for the Thief King's arrival, it was only by happy coincidence I was equipped to handle him." Atemu replied. "Mana's purpose is to guarantee the continued success of Egypt in the war efforts against all opposing countries. It always has been."

"B-but you just found out she existed a few-" Teana stuttered, very confused now.

"I am the reason Mana exists." Atemu interrupted. "Months after I took the throne for the second time, Mahad concocted a potion that would plant the seed for a child with the gift to be born. A man drinks it unknowingly while intoxicated in a bar in the slums, sees a pretty girl, passes the seed to her, dies the next morning. That girl gives birth to a baby girl nine months later, never suspecting she possesses any unnatural talents. I've prepared for the arrival of Mana since that day nearly ten years ago, waiting for the ability to bloom within her. Waiting for the trump card that would win me control of the world for the remainder of my reign."

Teana frowned. "I don't understand. Why didn't you invite Asenath to live in the palace ten years ago?"

"There's a fundamental difference in the mindset of someone who grew up in the palace versus someone who grew up in the slums." Atemu explained coldly. "The one who grew up in the palace, for example, might feel a sense of entitlement, or even be bold enough to raise issues of morality. The slumrat, however, will do anything you ask so long as it gets them off the street. Mana will always serve me with undying loyalty, for she will never forget that I saved her from that hell in the slums."

"So that's all she is?" Teana snapped, scowling. "A means to an end? Something to be exploited?"

"I can assure you that she would not be living within Mahad's palace right now if she did not possess great powers, if that's what you mean." Atemu retorted. With that, he turned to Mahad, even as Teana continued to glare at him. "Mahad, you know what to do. Do start with the undesirables, but from this moment forward, you have complete freedom to take who you want."

"Hey!" Teana shouted. "Don't ignore me! What are you talking about? Mana can't win you a war!"

"Mana can do anything as long as we provide her with the proper tools." Atemu said stonily, taking a step toward his wife threateningly, drawing himself up to his full height.

Teana strode right over to him, looking up at his face and pointing her right index finger right at his nose. "Don't try to intimidate me!" She hissed. "You don't have enough prisoners with death sentences and you know it, stop being delusional!"

"Who said anything about death sentences?" Atemu responded, crossing his arms over his chest. Teana's right arm fell to her side limply, her brow furrowing.

"What do yo-"

"My dungeons. The prisons, loaded to the brim with prisoners of war. Slaves. Non-Egyptians. The Slums." Atemu listed as comprehension dawned on Teana's face. "Lives that lack purpose, lack meaning, every last one of them. There is a reason why, over these last ten years, I've insisted that prisoners of war be taken alive whenever possible. I was just planting the crops, and now comes time to harvest."

"Harvest?" She shrieked, balling her hands into fists. "Just-"

"Half a million prisoners of war, kept alive all this time, many of whom could not be trusted to put to slave labor. Their sacrifice will feed Mana's powers. The criminals, the scum of Egypt, who have only themselves to blame for their punishment, tens of thousands of them. How many hundreds of thousands of replaceable slaves do we have in this kingdom? There's more energy here than Mana could use in a dozen lifetimes."

"Just how many men are you planning to kill!" She shouted, her knuckles white.

Atemu took a step back from her, looking her up and down disdainfully. "I am the Pharaoh of Egypt, he who acts as the voice of the gods in the mortal realm. My concern is this country, and how it stands in a testament to the power of the gods. Gods do not place a great value on the lives of mortals. _I_...I do not place great value on the lives of mortals. For the glory of Egypt, I would kill them all."

She glared daggers at her husband, huffing large breaths through her nose, as the priests stood to the side and watched the argument in silence.

Her eyes downcast, she opened her mouth. "I...I don't believe it. I knew you had problems, I knew we had disagreements, but I never-"

"Then what would you suggest? How would you protect Egypt?" Atemu shouted, losing his composure.

"END THE WAR!" She cried, stomping her sandaled right foot down on the tile. "All you have to do is end the war and set up defenses! They'd never get through, not in a hundred years! You know it! You have another option! Please-"

"We have already discussed this, Teana." Atemu said sternly. "That is no option. This is the only way." He looked back over at Mahad. "She should be given the chance to rest for a day or two, but I want you to immediate start preparing the ritual for a thousand sacrifices, we'll see what sort of power we can get from-"

"Y-your a monster." Teana said, in a low voice, chin tilted down, looking up at Atem with upturned eyeballs. "I...I really thought you just needed time, that you would come around...but no." She shook her head slowly. "There's nothing left. None of your humanity. Nothing left but cruelty. I can not-"

"Shut up!" He spat. "Not in front of the priests!" He motioned toward his inner circle, resuming his glaring at Teana.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this! I married a man! A good man! Not a monster!" She shrieked, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You never married a man." Atemu menaced through gritted teeth. "Now stop-"

"There's no humanity left in here!" She stepped forward, starting to pound on Atem's chest with her fists. "There's nothing but the husk of my husband here! I DIDN'T MARRY A HUSK!"

"SHUT UP!" He shouted, grabbing her wrists and holding her fists back. "You are shaming me! STOP IT!" He pushed her back a little, causing her to stumble back a couple steps. She wiped some of the tears from her cheeks, her eyes red and bleary.

"I...I..." she spun around, words escaping her, stomping off towards a passage a few meters to the group's right into a hallway. The clicking of her sandals echoed off the walls for a few seconds before Atemu turned back to his priests.

"They are just _so_ moody when they're pregnant." He moaned. "I mean, did you see that? Not five minutes ago she was all cheery and happy and joking around and...and then she throws that at me?" He sighed. "Sorry you had to see that. Anyway-"

"Pharaoh." Seto said slowly. "With all due respect, you may want to...uh...that is..." he looked over at the hallway through which Teana had departed, gesturing toward it with his body.

"Hey, it's what they do." Atemu said defensively. "They get pregnant, they get moody, these mortal women...all of them. I know a little something about this, this is my third kid you realize. She'll calm down, she'll get over it. I'll run up there later in the afternoon, she'll be apologizing her butt off. It's what they do!"

The priests continued to look at him, unconvinced. Atemu looked back at the hallway, chewing on his tongue.

"Yeah...yeah. Alright." He grumbled. "I'll...I'll go talk to her." He headed off after her, the eyes of all of his inner circle following him out of the room.


	11. Infection

Chapter Eleven: Infection

Atemu took a deep, settling breath in front of the door to his bedroom, his mind racing with the different ways to approach this. In truth, he had never known Teana to fly into such a rage before, and was a tad intimidated by having to confront her. Finally, he swallowed and reached forward to throw the door open.

"Teana, I-" He quickly rushed out, but was silenced by the scene. Teana was swiftly walking from the right side of the room towards the bed, carrying several dresses in her arms. He looked over into the right side of the room to see the closet door open.

She threw the contents of her arms onto the bed. Atemu stepped into the room as she moved back towards the closet, blocking her path.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked, grabbing her right wrist in his right hand, holding it up in front of his chest.

"I...I'm leaving!" She shouted, wresting her hand out of his grasp. "I can't do this anymore!" She stormed past him, his eyes following her movements.

"Do this?" He repeated. "All you do is sleep and get massages."

She ignored his barb, going up to a cabinet against the far wall and pulling the bottom drawer open. "I wanted this to work, Atemu, I really did, but it's done! Done! I have to end this!"

"Look...I'm...I'm sorry-"

"No you're not!" She shrieked, pulling a sheaf of parchment out of the drawer. "You don't even know what you're sorry for!"

"Teana. Stop it." He replied icily as she marched past him, throwing the papers on the bed.

"I can't! I can't do it anymore." She continued, turning to face her husband with her small hands clenched into fists at her sides. "I can't just sit as your side as you murder the whole world! I can't live with being the Queen of a country that commits such atrocities! I can't stand behind you any more!"

Atemu gave a tiny wry smile, approaching her slowly. "You've developed a taste for the royal life." He said easily. "You think you can walk away from all that?"

She frowned at his grin, pointing her right index finger up into his face. "I would live on the streets of the slums before I would sit at the side of a monster like you! One day, when I pass on and face Anubis, I will not have to answer for standing beside a man who committed mass genocide!"

"I am the voice of the Gods in the mortal realm." He replied as she turned around went over to the wall by the door, lifting a small wooden picture frame hanging there. "It is their will I hear before I act."

"Then you have lost your hearing!" She threw the picture onto the bed.

"Please, you're very emotional right now." Atemu said, willing himself to remain calm. "Just...just stop this nonsense. You're pregnant, and you're not thinking straight." She tried to walk past him, but he again grabbed her hands in his and pulled her towards him. "Please, stop this. Take a nap, eat a snack, you'll feel better."

She tried to pull away, but this time his grip was prepared and she could only flail in his grasp. "This has nothing to do with my pregnancy! I will not go down in the Egyptian history books as the Queen who stood by and looked pretty as the Pharaoh lost his humanity and became a monster!"

Atemu's grin dropped, his control soon to follow. "And I will not go down as the first Pharaoh in recorded history to separate from his wife." He said darkly as she continued to try and break away from his grasp. "I won't."

"Let me go!" She demanded, pulling as hard as she could against his hands. He slowly loosened his grip and allowed her to slip out. "It's too late, Atemu! You'll just have to find a new one!" She marched over toward the shelf in the far right corner of the room. "Maybe you can marry one of your harem whores!"

"Teana." He said quietly, glaring at her back.

"O-or maybe one of the servant girls! That's what you want, isn't it? A pretty obedient wife who just sits there? There are a million of those out there!" Teana grabbed a couple of trinkets off the 3rd level of the shelf, sweeping them into a small pile in her hands.

His face now slightly red, he marched forward towards her, meeting her before she could get to the bed and grabbing her shoulders, roughly turning her towards him.

"And need I remind you that you currently carry my third child? A potential heir to the throne of the most powerful being in the mortal realm? A descendant of the gods?" He hissed as she looked away. "Do you think I would even consider letting you leave me while you carry my child?"

"I already gave you two!" She ripped away from him and threw the trinkets on the bed. "Two more than I should have! I am not just a vessel for carrying children!"

She turned around, but Atemu had moved right behind her, grabbing the front collar of her dress and pulling her slightly towards him. "Perhaps I'm not making myself clear." He threw her back onto the bed, next to her pile of objections, landing on her back. "I forbid it."

"You can't force me to stay!" She scrambled to her feet. Atemu merely stepped forward and pushed her back onto the bed.

"There's nothing I can't do." He said, his voice low and cold. "You are nothing but a citizen of Egypt, one who would be wise to remember how unfathomably lucky you are to even be here. You are _still_ my subject."

She laid there, glaring at Atemu with all of her hatred, shaking with anger.

"I will not allow you to make such a foolish decision now, when circumstances have played with your emotions so." He said. "I am not cruel enough to let you do that. From this moment forward, every time you leave the palace, you must report to the head of security where you are going and what time you will be back by, or agree to an escort. You may not leave the palace after dark under any circumstance."

"Y-you can't ground me!" Teana sat up on the bed, looking up at Atemu in angry disbelief.

"I just did." He countered. "I have no desire to lock you inside the guest bedroom, but if you violate my terms, I will have no other choice." Finally, he stepped around the bed slowly, their eyes never parting as he moved. "I will not allow you to let the emotions of your pregnancy make such a foolish decision, even if it means I have to tie you down."

""""

Atemu surveyed the handiwork of his slaves, right out in front of his palace, just beyond the courtyard walls. A square prison, about twenty five feet long in all three dimensions, grids of iron making up the barriers on all sides and the ceiling. Currently, there was nothing inside but air and sand, but a crowd of hundreds of Egyptian civilians had gathered around it all the same.

Atemu was standing in front of the gates to his palace, turning to face the crowd. He cleared his throat and began his prepared speech. "Welcome, everyone." He said in a clear, booming voice. He knew many in the back might not hear him, but they would get the message eventually. "I have some unfinished business to take care of here today, and I wanted all of Egypt to be able to witness it."

With that, the gates to the palace opened, and from behind the left wall a pair of guards emerged, carrying the chair that held Thief King Bakura between them. He maintained a stoic expression, betraying no emotion as a roar of jeers erupted from the crowd. He was eventually set down right next to the prison, as Atemu motioned his hand down towards the ground a few times to prompt the silence of the crowd.

"The Thief King Bakura has committed a long list of atrocities against Egypt, and will now own up to them in front of Egypt." Atemu explained as one of the guards used a large bronze key to unlock the only gate on the structure. "He will experience pain beyond pain, with all of Egypt watching. To those who feel anger at the Thief King for what he has done, witness his suffering as a form of catharsis. And to those who have doubted me, doubted my rule, witness his suffering as a reminder of what happens to those who dare cross me."

This time, a roar of cheers sprung forth from the crowd as Bakura's imprisoning chair was heaved into the cell, still stony faced as the heavy iron gate was slammed shut behind him. Atemu took the chance to smile and wave at the crowd.

As he did, a half dozen robed men emerged from behind the right wall, aligning up into a line behind the Pharaoh and bowing to the crowd. Atemu again gestured his right hand toward the ground, silencing the roar.

"These six men will introduce Bakura to that pain, for your viewing pleasure. We will take everything from him." Slowly, he walked toward the cell, Bakura looking at his crowd. "We have taken his riches, his followers, his palace, his livelyhood, his freedom...all that he has left is his pride. And we will have it!" A sharp, quick cheer came from the crowd, taking only a few seconds to quiet down. "His pain will be endless, until his pride has been ripped from his body. He will suffer all the agony a mortal man can suffer, until he lays broken at my feet. Until he acknowledges me as the true Pharaoh, the greatest being in the mortal realm, and himself as a deluded fool who deserves to suffer for his blasphemy. I will grant him death only when he begs for it."

"Never!" Bakura spat, turning his head as much as he could toward the Pharaoh as he stopped just outside the prison. "Don't waste your time, false Pharaoh. No amount of pain can bring me to stoop that low."

"We have all the time in the world, and I am a patient man." Atemu countered easily. "Before this is done, you will have renounced your beliefs in front of all of Egypt."

"I have a legacy of resisting torture in my family, in case you've forgotten." Bakura retorted, teeth gritted. "I will not let down my ancestors."

"They say enough pain can drive a sane man insane." Atemu said eerily. "Now, you're already barking mad, and I personally can't wait to see the kind of effect it has on you. I think it might knock some sense into that head of yours."

He walked away from the cage toward the line of interrogators as the roar of jeers resumed from the crowd directed at the defeated Thief King, sitting in the large metal cell, unable to move in any meaningful way.

He came to a stop before his half-dozen men, and they all bowed to their waists. "Two rules, gentlemen. First, if any of you are stupid enough to be taken hostage by Bakura, you'll be killed immediately by the guards I'm going to post around the prison. Second, anyone who accidentally kills him before I give the order gets to take his place. Understood?"

They all nodded as one. Atemu gestured his right hand toward the metal structure and the six cloaked men approached it. Atemu continued to march past where they had been standing, back behind the palace walls, as the iron wrought gates slowly shut behind him.

"Very good, my Pharaoh." High Priest Seto said as he strode over towards him from his position against the right side of that wall. "They'll love it."

"The whole world should know what happens to my enemies." Atemu replied as the two walked in stride toward the palace. A great scream rose from just outside the gates, followed by cheers, letting the pair know that the torture had begun.

"I'm surprised you don't want to watch." Seto said, looking back at the gates as the expanding throng of bodies built up further.

"There will be plenty of time for watching later." Atemu took the first of the marble steps up toward his palace. "Are we prepped for tonight?"

"Yes. A thousand have been sacrificed as you commanded. Byzantium is the target." Seto responded.

"I want to be able to see it." Atemu said. "The whole world should see it. Feel it. Know what is coming and still feel powerless to do anything about it."

"If you don't mind me asking, my Pharaoh, how are things between you and Queen Teana?" Seto finally dared to tread.

"I do very much mind. But you did ask." Atemu replied. "Her pregnancy is affecting her emotions more than I expected. Since her outburst of three days ago, she hasn't said a word to me. Perhaps the third child is simply more straining on the female."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Seto said, the pair now halfway up the steps. "Perhaps a-"

"Don't worry about it." Atemu cut him off. "I've had the jewelers prepare a particularly special pendant for tonight. Sometimes you just have to appeal to the base instinct of a woman."

"Best of luck, sir." Seto nodded as they came to the top of the steps. "I'm sure she'll come around."

"You ever get jewelry for that girl of yours?" Atemu asked out of the blue as the two most powerful men in the world came to a stop at the peak of the marble.

Seto couldn't quite manage to keep the red from his face as he stared in shock at the man he served. "I'm...I'm sorry, sir?"

"You know, that girl...Kiya. You ever get her jewelry?" Atemu gave a wry smile.

"K-k-kisara, sir. And of course not, my Pharaoh. She's a slave, such a possession would be grounds for severe punishment." He looked down at the ground in front of Atemu, his hands behind his back. "I would never even-"

Atemu whipped his right hand up through the air, casting a glinting object up in an arc toward's his High Priest. Seto smoothly caught it in his left, looking down at a thin golden chain with a small sapphire embedded at the middle point on the length and tiny golden clasps on both ends.

Atemu turned to start walking past the massive pillars that held up the stone cover above his palace's entrance.

"My Pharaoh, there's no need to-" Seto insisted, quickly following his trail, holding the small necklace in his hand.

"You've been good, High Priest. She's been good. I believe in rewarding those who serve me well." He turned to Seto, clasping his right hand over his left shoulder. "Hey, come on now. You're going through a tough time, and you've proven your loyalty. I want you to know that I care. I don't need you to start resenting me or something." He turned away to continue his walk into the palace.

"Oh, my Pharaoh, not in a million years would I ever-"

"We both know that's not true." Atemu cut him off, waving his left hand dismissively in the air.

Seto looked down at the small necklace, running the chain through his fingers. "She's not...not really that sort of girl." He said lamely.

"What kind of girl is that?" Atemu asked, turning back around to face his High Priest.

"The...the jewelry type of girl, my Pharaoh." Seto went even redder, embarrassed that he was even having this mundane conversation.

The Pharaoh shrugged. "Maybe because she's never had any before."

"Thank you, almighty Pharaoh." Seto bowed his head slightly. "Should I tell her it's from you?"

Atemu scoffed. "Sure. And while you're at it, send a messenger up to fetch me tonight and I'll come on down and screw her for you." With that, he spun around and headed into the inner workings of his grand palace.

""""

"I really wish you could be happy for me." Atemu said softly, his hands on the backrest of the chair in front of him, looking down at his wife seated on the cushion. She ignored him, staring into the mirror built into the desk she was sitting in front of, contemplating only her reflection, eyes wide and face hollow. He looked down and could see the tiny bulge in her stomach, not yet noticable to all but the most careful eye, that would eventually become his third child.

"Nothing would make me happier." Atemu continued. "Today is the first day of eternal Egyptian dominance over the civilized world. And you sit by the throne which is the very seat of that power. Right at the side of the head. You mean to tell me this does nothing for you?"

She continued to act as if he wasn't there, or anything except her reflection wasn't there for that matter.

"If it doesn't, can you not find it in yourself to be happy for me? For my success? My victory?" He stood up, looking into the mirror. "Search deep within, my sweet. Past the wretched emotion of your pregnancy. Beyond the uncontrollable urges to act unreasonably. You'll find it."

She only continued her pattern of inhaling and exhaling, blinking every so often.

"It would mean a lot to me if you might come and watch tonight." He said slowly, extending his right hand out in front and above her face. He slowly opened his fingers, letting a heart-shaped ruby gem the size of a plum fall and hang from a golden chain. Every link of the chain had a tiny emerald in it. It hovered there in front of her, heavy in the Pharaoh's hands. "The fruits of my labor. The culmination of everything. It would mean a lot."

He allowed the priceless necklace to clatter to the desktop in front of her when she made no move to take it. "Think about it, won't you?" He said, sweeping past her toward the door to leave the bedroom, just to Teana's right.

"Please let me leave." She whispered, the Pharaoh freezing and turning to his wife in surprise. "I'm going to ask you one last time. There is no love left in this relationship, I am certain of it." She turned to look up at him, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "I have tried, for years I have tried with every ounce of strength in my body, but I can't do it."

He turned to square up to her, hands behind his back.

"I always told myself it would get better. That you would grow out of your anger and hatred, and then it would just be us." A couple tears streaked down her face. "I wanted it so much. I told myself it would be worth it. But you have been consumed." She turned away and shook her head. "Consumed by your obsession with the gods, your obsession with thinking yourself a god. You place no value on humans anymore, we're just tools to you."

"I place great value on you." He insisted, glancing down at the massive trinket he had just given to her. "My priests as well. Don't say such things."

"I know what you plan to do tonight." She continued, turning to look to her left. "Wipe a city off the map. Create a spectacle of destruction so all the world can tremble at your feet. Kill further thousands. I know the havoc you will unleash tonight, and you'll use a sweet little girl who isn't even old enough to understand what she's doing to do it." She turned to look at him. "Please. I am begging you. Do not force me to be the wife of the man who would do that. This has nothing to do with my pregnancy, I have never been more clear-minded in my life."

Atemu looked over at the door, sighing. "If you don't want to watch, I won't make you." He said simply. With that, he turned to leave the room, leaving Teana to sit there and weep.

"I gave you a chance." She said just as he was about to close the door behind him. "Remember that. I gave you a chance to just let me out."

Atemu stood there for a brief second before shutting the door behind him.

""""

In the far left corner of the grand palace of Egypt, like the other three corners, there was a thin, stone tower that reached up toward the heavens. Nearly a thousand feet above the ground, it was the closest to the skies one inside the palace could possibly get. Right now, four very powerful figures stood, looking toward the north.

"Showtime." Atemu said. Mahad patted Mana on the top of her head. Seto just looked off into the seemingly infinite nothingness of the desert.

Mana raised her little right hand up into the air. The three older men looked up into the sky above them. It was a clear Egyptian evening, little blocking the view of the the great unknown up above, tiny pinpricks of light numbering in the thousands decorating the black.

It was a clear Egyptian evening. Was.

Immediately, large wisps of smoke started swirling up above, perhaps a dozen of them converging together up above.

"She does understand the palace isn't the target, doesn't she?" High Priest Seto asked sarcastically.

"Yes. If we were to wipe the eyesore that is _your_ palace off the map, however, I would have no objection." Mahad watched as the cloud began to float to the north, ominous rumbles of thunder ripping through the air.

"And then what would your palace aspire to be?" Seto shot back, the eyes of the three men following the cloud, starting to pick up speed.

"Shh." Atemu waved his hand at the two.

Flashes of light now popping up within the cloud of smoke, it left the city of Cairo, moving faster and faster.

"Where are the others?" Seto asked, eyes not pulling away from the cloud that only grew in size as it pulled away, not fading from view.

"Praying for our success." Atemu said flatly. Seto gave him a look with a raised eyebrow. "I don't want them here."

Seto contemplated asking further questions, tongue pressed against the inside of his left cheek. Atemu superceded him.

"I don't trust them." Atemu explained, folding his arms across his chest. "They don't need to be here, I need to protect my investment." He looked down at the small girl, eyes closed in concentration.

Seto pursed his lips. "I don't need to be here." He thought out loud. "So you trust me?"

Atemu turned to look at him, face emotionless. "That depends." He replied dryly. "Are you here right now?"

Seto flushed slightly as the Pharaoh turned back to look at the huge cloud in the sky. "T-thank you, my Pharaoh." He gave a small bow.

Mahad shot a half smirk at Seto, shuffling back a step so he was standing next to him. "_So you trust me?_" He repeated mockingly in his ear.

Seto scowled at him, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "Kiss the darkest part of my-"

"Hush." Atemu whispered. A few brilliant streaks of white light shot down from the cloud, striking the ground before disappearing.

"I'm there." Mana said throatily.

In the next second, a couple dozen more bolts of lightning ripped down from the large cloud. They could not see the aftermath from their vantage point a thousand miles away, but they all knew that the bolts were wreaking havoc on the city of Byzantium, a valued Turkish territory that King Abbas had managed to protect from the armies of Egypt all these years. In the next few seconds, they saw huge vortexes of swirling smoke descend toward the ground.

"I am impressed." Seto admitted, a sidelong glance at Mahad.

"Hardly a difficult reaction to get out of you." Mahad replied.

"Not every day you see a nine year old girl with a few weeks training do what a middle aged man with nearly three decades of it can't." Seto explained. "Are you entirely sure you were reading the right scrolls all those years?"

"You couldn't tell a black magic scroll from a Hummus recipe." Mahad retorted.

"Please, continue!" Atemu said loudly, turning to look at his two trusted priests. The pair froze, staring at the Pharaoh with wide eyes. "No, no, this is much more entertaining and interesting! To hell with me establishing my continued dominance over the rest of the world, my priests are fighting like teenaged girls! Please!" He put his left index finger down the stone wall in front of him that came up to his waist, providing a barrier between the tower roof and the long fall down to the ground. "Kindly put your cocks on here and I'll measure them for you!"

The pair looked down at the ground at the Pharaoh's feet, flushing.

"My apologizes, Pharaoh." Mahad grumbled.

"It won't happen again." Seto added.

Atemu shook his head, turning back to look off into the distance, little flashes of fire kicking up from underneath and within the cloud. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood."

Those tiny sparks in the distance got gradually bigger and bigger, faint cracks ringing in the air even over the great distance.

"I wish we could be closer." Atemu commented, rubbing his chin. "I can only imagine the chaos down there."

Finally, Mana lowered her hand, and the sparks ceased. "It's done." She said, sweat dripping from her brow. "Just a big pile of ruins and some scrambling survivors."

"Very good." Atemu nodded. "How do you feel?"

"Tired, sir." She put her hands down on her knees, bending over to breathe heavily.

"You've done wonderfully tonight. Mahad will take you home, the architects can wait until tomorrow."

"A-architects?" Mana looked up at the Pharaoh.

"Well, it's not fair for Mahad to have to share his palace with you and your mother." He explained lightly. "I think it's about time you moved out on your own." He extended his right hand out towards her. "All we need is your preferred style of palace."

She slowly took his hand with both of hers, eyes lighting up. "T-thank you, mighty Pharaoh." She said in a tiny voice.

He turned to Mahad as Mana used his hand to assist her in standing up. "Now the world has seen the extent of our power. I don't want to let them down. Starting tomorrow, Mana is to participate in all future battles fought by the Egyptian army. You have complete freedom in gathering for the required sacrifices, I trust your judgement."

"It will be done." Mahad nodded.

"Seto, kindly send word out that aggressive expansion begins anew tomorrow." Atemu added, moving toward the flight of stairs that spiraled down through the tower. "All units out on the borders will make a push with Mana assisting. This was just a showcase, from now on I want cities to be taken intact and prisoners taken alive."

"Of course." Seto watched the Pharaoh disappear down the steps, the faintest of footsteps padding along as he made the long descent.

After several seconds, Seto turned to Mahad. Giving a small smirk, he extended his right hand out toward Mahad, and it was accepted by the other in a quick handshake.

"I suppose we'll need to synchronize on this." Seto said, looking over at Mana still standing by the ledge.

"Come." Mahad beckoned, prompting her to run up to him. He bent down on one knee, back turned to her, allowing her to wrap her arms around his neck. He stood back up, the small girl clinging to him.

"How adorable." Seto commented dryly as the two began to descend the stairs.

"I suppose you wouldn't know anything about the embrace of a female." Mahad replied airily, grabbing her knees in his hands.

"I do outrank you, you know." Seto pointed out.

"Are you going to fire me?" Mahad looked over his right shoulder, up at Mana, giving her a comfort smile.

"I'm considering it." Seto smiled to himself. "Mana could do your job. She probably wouldn't be such a whiner too."

"Oh, I'm a whiner? What does that make you?" Mahad rubbed Mana's right foot in his hand as she rested her head against the back of his.

"The colleague of a whiner." Seto answered tartily.

"Hush." Mana whispered, causing both of the men to look back at her figure as she let the rocking motion of Mahad descending the stairs lull her to sleep.

""""

Atemu swung the door to his bedroom open, eyes scanning the room for his estranged wife. He found her, curiously enough, seated on the bed in the fetal position, knees up to her chest, rocking back and forth.

"Honey, look at this." He exclaimed, trying to ignore her curious seating arrangement. He walked up to her, holding up a six inch dagger glowing blue in one hand and a large diamond in the other. "Look what Mana cooked up."

She didn't raise her eyes from their downcast state, looking down at her toes.

"This blade has been enhanced to cut through anything, yet is light as a feather." He explained. "Imagine an entire army of Egyptian soldiers wielding these." With that, he deftly cut the knife through the diamond, neatly sawing it in half. Placing the two crystals down on the bed, he held the small blade up. "You woun't have to imagine it for very long, I'll have a million of these running around and wreaking havoc against all my enemies in a matter of days."

She paid him no heed, only shallowly breathing.

He straightened up, licking his lips. "I wish you could see the battle reports. It's back to the way it used to be. Casualties are nearly non-existent. Mana barely leaves anything for the soldiers to do but celebrate." He grabbed her right hand and held it between his. "The world is mine, darling. Soon, the warmongering will be over. Don't you see? Once I finish crushing my enemies, there will be no one left to fight. This is good. This is good news. You should be happy."

She gave him a tiny upward glance that faded immediately, back down to her feet.

"Okay." Atemu grunted. He sat down on the bed next to her, looking her over with a frown. "This needs to stop. You need to stop. Right now. I don't know what demons have taken hold of you to make you act like this, but you were never half this bad during your first two pregnancies." He grabbed her head by her cheeks and forcefully turned her to face him. "Now, I am not going to suffer the indignity of separating from my marriage to a mortal woman, not for anything. I don't care if you're of clear mind or not. So you can either sit there and mope forever, or get over it."

She continued to look at him after he let her face go, unfurling her legs down onto the ground as she did so. His expression softened, feeling as if he was almost there.

"Now. In four or five moons, you'll have a newborn. You'll feel a great joy at bringing new life into this world. You'll take pride and joy out of raising this child. You'll look at him, and your heart will soar. All of these negative thoughts and emotions will be purged from your body. Half a year from now, you will be the happiest woman in Egypt again, and you'll forget all about all of this nonsense." He watched her slowly stand up, not taking her eyes off of his. "Things are going better than they ever have within this kingdom, and I've never been happier. Please, join me in my happiness. Think on the child that sits within you now. Think on your third child."

She now stood straight up in front of Atemu, eyes still wide and on his, breathing heavily. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak slightly, but her words were mumbled and low.

"I'm sorry, sweetie?" Atemu asked, giving her a tiny comfort smile.

"I said, we're not having a third child." She said throatily, swallowing hard after those words left. "There's no child in me."

Atemu raised an eyebrow before cracking a grin. "Don't be absurd. The doctors did all the tests, you have the same emotional reactions, the same strange taste in fo-"

"No!" She said sharply. "No. You don't understand." She extended a shaking left fist toward Atemu slowly, letting a crumpled piece of paper fall into his lap.

He picked it up in his fingers and slowly opened it up, smoothing out the creases in the parchment.

"I...I don't have a child in me. Because it was taken out." She blubbered, her words now shaking like her entire body.

Atemu felt a cold, clammy hand grip his stomach as he looked the parchment over. A small seal of red ink that he recognized as the insignia of a well-known Cairo Physician. While much of the rest of it was legal terminology and medical phrases, he was able to clearly understand one of the paragraphs near the bottom.

_By signing this, you are agreeing to undergo a process that is experimental and potentially dangerous. You also understand that the process, if successful, will remove the unborn, un-developed human from within your womb. You also understand that the process is not reversible, and that the unborn human can not be saved._

At the bottom, he saw what he knew to be Teana's signature. His hands started to shake.

"An abortion." Teana said through tears. "That's what they're calling it. An abortion."

Atemu dropped the paper to the ground, slowly tilting his head up to look back at her, smile long faded.

"You didn't give me a choice." She said huskily, more tears streaming down her face. "Our child. I had it killed, Atemu, because I can't do this anymore. I _can't._"

His forehead slowly wrinkled, jaw locked in a scowl, breath coming in and out of him in large huffs.

"All of this...this god-blood, royal family stuff, I can't do it!" She shrieked, refusing to drop her gaze from Atemu even as his glare threatened to kill her on anger alone. "I saw what it did to you! It corrupted, consumed, destroyed you! Destroyed the man I love! I remember the man I fell in love with, and he's nothing like you, all of this Pharaoh business did this!"

His jaw quivered, hands still shaking, balling up into fists.

She refused to back down. Not now.

"I won't give you another child to infect! Infect, like your father did you, and his father did him! I-it's too late for Ammon and Asenath, b-b-but this I can do!" She sobbed, her face contorted into an ugly, tear-stained mess. "I could save this one!" Her lip quivered. "A-and I d-d-did, the o-only way I could!"

Atemu's nostrils started to flare, though he remained seated on the bed, his entire body starting to shake.

"You won't forgive this." She forced out, her voice starting to steady itself. "I-I know you won't. You will never forgive this. I can see it in your eyes, you're repulsed by the sight of me now!" She again lost control, starting to cry openly. "P-please, please, just let me leave this horrible p-p-place! I can't be a part of it a-a-anymore, and you can't stand the sight of me any more, just please let me-"

"BITCH!" He roared, jumping up and punching her in the cheek with his right hand. She fell back to the floor from the impact, laying on her back, left hand up against the welt on her cheek.

Atemu looked down at her for awhile, breathing heavily, eyes wide and jaw locked in a burning scowl. She continued to stare him down, still holding her ground.

He slowly moved past her, walking over to his desk opposite the doorway, each footstep a tiny tap.

He pulled the chair out and sat down it in, looking at his reflection in the mirror against the wall. Teana just watched him, still weeping silently, hand pressed against her cheek.

Atemu folder his hands together in front of his face, supporting his elbows on the desk and pressing his forehead against his hands. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, his breath the only noise within the chamber.

He re-opened his eyelids, looking at the bottom right corner of the mirror to see Teana's reflection, still laying on the ground and rubbing her red cheek.

"Get out." He growled in a low, menacing voice. Quickly, she jumped to her feet, not needing to be told twice as she swept toward the door.

As she was just about to exit the room, she couldn't help but throw one last glance at the Pharaoh, a pitying look in her eyes as she searched for something to say. She couldn't find it, so she simply departed the room, leaving Atemu alone with his thoughts.

He again closed his eyes, sighing deeply, using his right hand to rub his forehead.


	12. Loose Ends

Chapter 12: Loose Ends

"I offer my deepest condolences to the both of you." High Priestess Isis said, hands held behind her back, standing in the middle of the Pharaoh's bedroom, facing the open closet door. "A miscarriage is a true tragedy, and for it to happen within the palace of the Pharaoh is truly sad."

Teana was within the large closet, picking items off of the rack, throwing them into a large burlap sack behind her. Atemu sat on the opposite side of the room, in his desk chair that he had pulled out to the foot of his bed. He sat back in it, lands folded in his lap, staring at her as she made her choices. High Priest Seto stood at his side.

"And I also extend my condolences for the unfortunate state of your marriage. It is truly a shame that it has come to this. But, perhaps it is for the better." Isis added as Teana poked her head out of the closet.

"I'm finished." She said hoarsely, her cheek still a faint red from the previous night.

Isis beckoned toward the door, and two muscular guards entered. Teana pushed the large sack out into the main room, where the two men took it between them and began to carry it from the room.

"I'll escort you to your new home." Isis offered as Teana came up to her. "It's a nice little house, downtown, good neighborhood. We'll make sure you're taken care of."

"Oh-thank you." Teana said in barely a whisper. "You don't have to-"

"I insist." She took her right hand between hers. "You've been through a lot, I want to be there for you. You're still part of the royal family, I want you to know that. We're here to support you."

Teana gave a tiny nod. "Thank you. I think I have everything."

"Let's go." She moved toward the door, Teana following for a few steps. When they got to the door, Teana slowed to a halt and looked back at her former husband.

Isis turned to look back at her from the adjacent room. "Teana?"

"Go on ahead. I'll meet up with you in a bit." She replied. Isis nodded, walking off right behind the two large guards.

The outside door closed, leaving just the three individuals in the area.

She stared at him for some seconds, mouth open a crack as she tried to figure out what to say. Nothing came to her. Atemu simply sat there, returning the stare. Seto uneasily glanced back and forth between the two, afraid to say anything.

She turned to leave, and Atemu took that moment to finally open his mouth.

"Do you think Anubis will take pity on you because you're stupid?" He hissed, drawing her eyes back to him. "What you've done here will offend Anubis more than anything else you could have possibly done. Do you honestly believe the gods will pat you on the back when you stand to be judged in the afterlife, congratulate you for having high moral character? Anubis will not let you into the land of the Two Fields just because you're stupid."

She swallowed audibly, taking a deep breath, then turned to leave again. Again, Atemu held her there with another parting barb.

"I should have seen this coming." He rasped, again prompting her to turn back around, just a half step outside the room. "You could never understand. Never grasp the gravity of a Pharaoh's responsibilities. There's no god in you. You're just a mortal. A spoiled, bratty mortal. An outsider. I...foolishly..._foolishly_...thought I could bring you in. How stupid I was, you could never understand." He swallowed, adam's apple pulsing. "I should have known you'd turn on me. You mortals aren't fit for this. There's no god in you."

She sniffled a few times, looking down at the ground in front of Atemu. Slowly, she opened her mouth. "I thank the gods that there is none of them in me."

Atemu stood up from the chair, Teana drawing back slightly in surprise. Each step taken heavily, he approached her, she bravely standing her ground. Seto watched, forehead wrinkled in worry, carefully watching the scene.

She started to shake a little, eyes reflecting fear, but did not budge even as Atemu stood just a step in front of her, just within the threshold of his bedroom door. With wide eyes, he looked her up and down, before finally reaching to grab the door to his left. Slowly, he eased it shut, their stares not dropping as the slit they viewed each other shrunk to nothing.

Finally, the door slid shut and Atemu turned back to his High Priest, face still that unreadable, stony mask.

"Mighty Pharaoh, I...I don't know what to say." Seto blurted out as Atemu slowly walked back toward his chair. "I have little tongue for these sorts of things. I feel awful for your loss."

Silently, Atemu sat down in the chair, glaring at the still-open closet.

"It's truly a terrible thing to lose a child and a wife. I can only imagine the turmoil in your mind right now." Seto continued. "But-" Atemu turned to glare at him, sending a crackle through his nerves. "...but. With all due respect, and I mean no offense, a miscarriage is a freak accident." He swallowed hard as Atemu continued to direct his fiery stare at him. "I know you're mad at her for other reasons, but...perhaps your anger is not entirely...not...entirely..." his tongue frantically searched for the right word, his face going red as he failed to find it.

Atemu looked behind Seto, at the closed door to the room, then back to him. "It wasn't a miscarriage." He mumbled, turning back to the closet door.

"Sir, I'm sorry?" He leaned forward slightly.

"It wasn't a miscarriage." He repeated, voice irritable. "It was an abortion."

Seto blinked several times in quick succession, then shook his head rapidly. "An...an abortion?" He repeated stupidly. "Wh-...no, that's...that's insane. That's...what are you talking about?"

"An abortion." He spat, looking up at his high priest. "You know what that word means?"

"Ye-...of course I do, sir. It-it's unthinkable, why would she-"

"Yes." He stood up, walking toward the door that Teana had just departed through. "Why would she?"

Seto quickly followed, face still flushed. "My Pharaoh, are you positive?"

"She looked me in the eye and told me." Atemu replied, moving to the desk near the back, windowed wall of his pseudo-work room. "Produced paperwork and everything."

"Oh...oh, gods." He watched Atemu sit himself down on the large, cushioned chair behind his desk. "I am...exceedingly sorry, had I know, I would never have-"

Atemu waved his hand dismissively at Seto. "I don't know what to think, High Priest. I don't know what to do."

"Well..." Seto cleared his throat. "I...I don't know what to say. I...I suppose she's gone now. Out of the palace. Living in the city."

Atemu squinted at the desk surface in front of him. "Is that enough?"

"I would never try to defend what she did. No one could." Seto assured the man he served. "But perhaps the best thing to do now is purge her from your mind. Focus on the triumphs of your armies, the expansion of your lands. Perhaps take another wife, one wh-"

Atemu slammed his right fist down on the desk, silencing Seto instantly. "I will _not_ allow another mortal woman into into the royal family!" He shouted. "They're a poison, Seto. A disease, intent on destroying us from the inside out. We have to be kept separate. I see it now."

Seto closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to settle himself. "My Pharaoh. I feel I would be doing you a disservice if I did not remind you that your mother is a mortal woman."

Atemu reached for a large glass bottle on the desk in front of him with a yellow liquid inside, popping the cork out of the neck and taking a large swig from it. He slammed it back down, a tiny smirk on his lips. "Yes. I wonder how my father did it?"

"Did what, my Pharaoh?" Seto asked, shuffling toward the smaller chair on the other side of the desk.

"My mother." Atemu said, his voice low. "Sit down." He pointed at the chair. "My mother always kept her mouth shut, never whined or complained, and just sat back and enjoyed the royal life. What did he do that I didn't?"

Seto took a seat as instructed, sucking in another deep breath. "What will you do?"

Atemu shook his head. "I don't know. I won't decide now. Even now my anger controls me."

Seto nodded. "I'm sorry."

Atemu leaned his head back against the back of his chair, contemplating the ceiling. "Nothing changes. The attacks continue as planned."

"Of course." Seto stood up, bowing. "I should go."

"Seto." Atemu said sharply as the High Priest turned to leave. "No one finds out. No one."

"Of course."

"No one." Atemu repeated, his glare focused at the back of Seto's head. "That includes Isis, that includes Mahad, that includes your albino girlfriend."

"It will never leave this room." Seto assured him.

Atemu nodded, taking another deep drink from the bottle as Seto departed.

""""

The aged, wrinkled, yet still beautiful figure of once-queen Amaunet lay on the stone tablet, placed just outside of the palace entrance hall, near the top of the marble steps. Hands clasped over her chest, eyes closed, face blank of all expression. Two tall, muscular guards flanked the long stone slab. Atemu stood just in front of it, looking down the stairs at the massive congregation of Egyptians that covered the entire marble staircase and much of the courtyard below.

"My father found Amaunet around thirty five years ago. She wanted to become a dancer in the palace. She was very good. My father liked what he saw. And, of course, eventually my father took a special interest in her. As is the nature of the way things work, she found her way into my father's bedchamber." He paused. "By all reliable sources, she was very good at that too."

A throng of laughs came from the crowd, Atemu smiling and nodding along with them.

"She was a wonderful woman." Atemu continued. "Behind great men sit great women, and my father was no exception. She always stood behind him, always offering advice, always keeping him grounded. She was very intelligent, always keeping up on the affairs of the day. She didn't just want to sit there and look pretty all the time." He raised his right fist up to his mouth, clearing his throat. "As a mother, she was always supportive, a kind and loving figure. I could ask for no better parent. She taught me so much. I am happy that she was able to die of natural causes, warm in her bed, surrounded by the people she knew and loved. She truly deserved at least that much. She deserves much more. I hope her dwelling in the afterlife is more magnificent than any one we could grant her in the mortal realm."

Everyone broke out into applause for several seconds, Atemu scanning the crowd with his eyes.

"Today is a day for paying your respects to former Queen Amaunet." He gestured toward her lifeless body. "You will all have the opportunity to see her up close, perhaps say a little prayer, before this day is done. Follow the instructions of the soldiers, they'll organize the line."

With that, he turned around and swept past the stone table, buzzing of the crowd kicking up behind him. He quickly retreated back into the palace, where Seto and Isis were waiting for him.

"A splendid speech, my Pharaoh." Seto bowed, Isis copying him at his side.

"Truly, today is a sad day. You have been through much pain over the past weeks." Isis added thoughtfully.

"There is no sorrow in today." Atemu corrected. "My mother lived a good, happy life, and died of natural causes. I meant what I said out there. There's no sorrow in dying of old age." He heaved a sigh, glancing back out at her corpse. "Although...I do regret these last weeks."

The two high priests held silent as Atemu stood there, chewing on his bottom lip.

"I've been so...so pre-occupied." He moaned. "I knew she didn't have much time left. I wish I had spent more time talking to her. Now, she's gone and I can't help but feel she deserved more of my attention."

"You have been very busy." Seto said. "I'm sure she would understand."

"This feels so...sudden." He lamented, turning back to face his priests and starting to trudge past them into the main hall. "I wish there had been more time."

"I wish you the best, my Pharaoh." Isis said, bowing. "I have to go tend to my flock." With that, she departed their company.

Atemu waited for her echoing footsteps to die off before turning to Seto. "Walk with me."

Seto complied as he began heading deeper into the palace.

"So, are things proceeding well?" Atemu questioned as they swept into a hallway, carpeted with persian rugs.

"Athens will fall by morning." Seto assured him as they turned into a stairwell. "That I can promise."

"Very good. The remaining remnants of greece will be forced to the north. Without their precious capital, they'll have nothing to rally behind." The pair ascended the stone steps. "It's been a long time since an entire country was wiped from the map."

"Congratulations, sir. As for our special prisoner, I think if you head down there tonight you'll be very pleased with what you see." Seto adjusted the shoulders of his shirt to line up with his body better.

"I want him entirely broken." Atemu came up to the door that led into his double-chambered bedroom, twisting the doorknob. "Nothing left of his pride."

"He's been begging the interrogators to let him see you for hours now." Seto followed the Pharaoh into the shelf-lined room. "I think he's ready to say whatever you want him to say."

"Good. Very good." Atemu spun into the chair on the far side of the desk as Seto came to seat on the chair on the opposing side. "Tonight...should be a good night."

"Absolutely." Seto paused, licking his upper lip. His stomach tightened as he felt the conversation approaching a place he didn't feel comfortable with.

"There's something I'd like you to do for me tonight." Atemu said. Seto's heart accelerated.

"Anything, my Pharaoh." Seto said inspite of his fear.

"We still have to deal with the traitor." Atemu said simply, leaning back in his chair.

Seto blinked a couple times before giving his head a couple shakes. "The...the traitor?"

"Yes. You remember, don't you?" Atemu cocked his head.

"I...I thought that issue had been...handled." Seto said delicately, leaning forward toward the large wooden desk.

"I know who it is." Atemu said, his face void of emotion.

Seto suddenly swung his head around, hands raised up to his head. But a quick look around revealed nobody in the room. He heard Atemu chuckling behind him, and quickly turned back to face him, going red.

"My apologies." He mumbled, eyes slightly downcast.

"Don't worry, I know it's not you." Atemu comforted. "But you already knew that."

"But...you mean to say that my father-"

"Your father loved Egypt, and served me faithfully until the moment he died." Atemu said, finality in his voice. "I never suspected him."

Seto squinted at the Pharaoh. "B-but-"

"That was a test. I wanted to see how the rest of my inner circle would react to my accusation." Atemu explained. "I had full confidence he was not the traitor, and given his track record, so should the rest of the inner circle. And they all vouched for his loyalty, with one exception."

Seto swallowed hard, hanging onto Atemu's every word.

"Buhen seemed to think the idea had merit. Said the pieces fell into place." Atemu recalled. "Everyone else couldn't wait to remind me of Aknadin's loyal service to Egypt all these years."

"You mean...you think Buhen took the opportunity to try to deflect suspicion from himself?" Seto said, realizing immediately after that his words sounded rather stupid and he was simply stating the obvious. He bit his tongue.

"Yes. That's exactly what I mean." Atemu nodded. "It was a lead. Nothing definite, but something. This morning, however, my suspicions were confirmed."

He rolled a piece of parchment in front of him across the desk, flying off of it and toward Seto, who caught it and opened it. His eyes scanned the page.

"It's the schedule for the shift change at the Thief King's cell." Atemu explained. "As you can see, the times have been altered very slightly."

"Hardly the picture of ideal security." Seto admitted. "It looks like there might even be a short window where-"

"The cage is unguarded." Atemu finished. "It would probably amount to nothing, the Thief King has many more obstacles to overcome than just the guards. However, it would present at least a crack he might attempt to squeeze through."

"Who wrote this up?" Seto asked, brow furrowing. "Are you saying that Buhen did this?"

"I've been watching him carefully over the past weeks." Atemu picked a reed pen off of his desk and tossed it up into the air. "Buhen was behind it."

"That's...stupid." Seto tossed the paper back onto the desk. "It would never work, and someone was sure to notice anyway."

"It's a desperate move, made by a desperate man." Atemu agreed, nodding. "Practically no chance of success, but at this point I suspect it was the best he could do." He steepled his fingers in front of his chest. "There's no doubting it. Buhen allied himself with the Thief King, at some time months back, and has been conspiring against me ever since. My paranoia seemed to keep him from doing too much damage, but I have no doubt he has done many things to disadvantage me in recent times."

Seto cleared his throat. "How would you have me handle it?"

"I've already sent a thousand soldiers to place him under house arrest. You're going to go talk to him, I can not stomach seeing him right now."

"Yes, but what is to be his punishment?" Seto asked.

Atemu looked up at the ceiling, realizing the reed pen had lodged itself into the ceiling. Shaking his head, he looked back at his High Priest. "He and his family have served Egypt for so long, it's almost...unthinkable that it could come to this." He shrugged. "Offer him the easy way out."

"Understood." Seto stood up, bowed, and quickly attempted to turn to leave.

"I'm sorry about your father." Atemu said to his retreating back, causing him to spin back around. "I never suspected him of treason, and I never wanted him to die."

"I understand fully, my Pharaoh. It is I who should apologize for doubting your wisdom." Seto insisted, bowing again. He tried to turn again to leave, but Atemu held him there with his words.

"There's one more thing." Atemu said, looking at the door to the other section of his bedroom, to his right. "I swore to myself I'd do nothing while my mother was still alive, but now...I need to make a decision."

Seto closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath, before turning around. "Yes, my Pharaoh?"

"I promised myself I wouldn't touch her so long as my mother resided in the realm of the mortals. It would have been an insult to her to do such things with her still alive."

Slowly, Seto walked toward Atemu, feeling his pulse quickening. He wanted nothing to do with this.

"It's been three weeks since she told me. Three weeks since she left. I don't know what to do." Atemu looked down at the desk in front of him helplessly. "I have been consumed by these thoughts every night, even amidst everything else. I remain angry, but that anger no longer controls me, I know I'm ready to make a decision. But I don't know what to do."

Seto again sighed, then began to speak. "I could not possibly relate to the tragedy you have experienced, so it's difficult for me to offer anything meaningful in advice."

"I value your input in all things, High Priest." Atemu insisted. "What should I do?" He tapped his forehead against the desk surface, letting it rest there. "I loved her once. She was once a beautiful young girl, become a beautiful woman. I wanted to grow old with her. I promised her we'd grow old together. But...but this. She killed my child. Killed a potential heir to the throne, a being with the blood of the gods running through it's veins. As surely as if she took a knife and carved it's heart out, she killed my child."

"What she did is...unforgivable." Seto said carefully, Atemu still resting his head on the desk. "A horrible, inhumane act. However, all she wanted was to leave the palace. She has that now, she has no reason to hurt you ever again. She possesses no means to hurt you. Perhaps the move is to simply let things be."

"And let her win?" He growled, picking up his head a half inch to slam it back down onto the desk.

"It's not about winning or losing, my Pharaoh." Seto said quickly. "Do you honestly believe she'll enjoy the rest of her life? Out on the streets after ten years of palace life, the knowledge that she murdered her own child...to say nothing of the punishment that Anubis will hand to her in the afterlife. Perhaps the gods should decide her punishment."

"Am I not the mortal extension of the gods?" Atemu straightened himself back out in his chair, flattening his shirt on his chest. "By all rights, I am a god."

"I really don't know what to say." Seto rubbed his forehead with his right hand.

"I...I think I know what I need to do." Atemu looked up at the ceiling. "I think I've known for awhile. I just couldn't do it while my mother was alive." He closed his eyes, sighing. "Oh, who am I kidding? I don't know what I need to do."

"You don't have to decide right now." Seto shrugged. "We do have other business to attend to."

"Come see me before sunrise tomorrow." Atemu stood up. "I need to sleep on this one last time."

"Very good, sir." Seto left his chair as well. "I'll be here."

""""

The crowd had been worked into a frenzy by the time Atemu actually stepped beyond his palace walls. He surveyed the scene with satisfaction. The Thief King had been tied to a stake, hands above his head, just outside of the cage. His half dozen interrogators waited on the opposite side of him, watching as the Pharaoh slowly approached what remained of his foe.

His skin hung from his body in testament to all he had been put through over the past moon cycle, deep cuts, gashes and bruises in every imaginable place. His torso had been shrunk due to lack of food, showcasing every last one of his ribs. But Atemu knew his agony went far beyond what was physically seen. He knew of the many forms of pain that left no marks, for one, but the psychological impact of being in this position alone would drive Bakura to madness. He had been coming down to see him every few days ever since his torture began, and had thoroughly enjoyed watching the pride get beat out of him.

Bakura meekly looked down at the ground as Atemu approached, eyes wide in fear.

"Well. They say you've been wanting to tell me something?" Atemu said, coming to a stop just in front of him.

"Y-yes, almighty Pharaoh." Bakura said, voice trembling.

Atemu smiled. He recalled the many days on which Bakura had simply spit in his face, saying that he'd never give him the satisfaction. Or the times he had haughtily agreed to take back his insults in exchange for death. Or his offerings to acknowledge him as the true Pharaoh. Or his many offers of humiliation and supplication. But Atemu was a thorough man, and he wanted to purge every last piece of dignity from his being before he ended this. Every time, he had still seen a tiny glimmer of pride in him, but this time...perhaps he would get what he wanted.

"Well, what is it?" Atemu prodded, as the crowd fell deathly silent.

"I...please, mighty Pharaoh Atemu." His voice continued to quiver. "Let me serve you. Grant me the honor of serving you, following your orders."

Atemu put his arms at his sides, nodding. "Good, very good. Now, who am I?"

"The most powerful mortal on the planet, the finest Pharaoh Egypt has ever seen." Bakura blurted out, his face beet red with embarrassment.

"And who are you?" Atemu continued, smirking as he bent down to look at Bakura's face.

"A pitiful lowlife who deserves to suffer all the pain the mortal world can inflict for my blasphemy." Bakura answered, his face burning with the hot sweat of shame.

"Did you all hear that?" Atemu called out, and a roar of approval echoed through the Egyptian evening. "Now, do you remember what you said when I first brought you here, nearly a moon ago?"

"Y-yes, mighty Pharaoh." Bakura replied, forcing himself to speak the words he knew the Pharaoh wanted to hear.

"You said no amount of pain could force you to stoop so low." Atemu recalled wistfully. "What do you think now?"

"Foolish, stupid words spoken by a foolish stupid man!" He exclaimed, shutting his eyes and hanging his head.

"Yes. Now, here's what I want from you." Atemu pressed his right index finger into the center of Bakura's chest, drawing a cry of pain. "I want you to say, that I am the rightful Pharaoh, and that your Thief King lineage is made up entirely of pathetic lowlifes."

Bakura swallowed hard as Atemu withdrew his finger. "You are the rightful Pharaoh, the Thief King lineage is made up of pathetic lowlifes." He said in a labored whisper.

"Louder." Atemu demanded.

"You are the rightful Pharaoh, the Thief Kings were pathetic lowlifes!" He yelped.

"Pretend this crowd is your gang of bandits, and you're giving them one of your little speeches." Atemu gestured out toward the crowd. "Put some life into it."

"You are the rightful Pharaoh, the Thief Kings were pathetic lowlifes!" He said, even louder, the crowd cheering at his humilating predicament.

"MORE!" Atemu roared, throwing his arms up into the air.

"YOU ARE THE RIGHTFUL PHARAOH, THE THIEF KINGS WERE PATHETIC LOWLIFES!" Bakura was very nearly at tears, so thorough was his humiliation, but he had already resolved to do whatever it took to end this.

"THEY CAN'T HEAR YOU IN THE BACK!" Atemu screamed, eyes wild with glee as he continued to point out into the sea of people.

"YOU ARE THE RIGHTFUL PHARAOH, THE THIEF KINGS WERE PATHETIC LOWLIFES!" He hollered at the top of his lungs.

"Yes! Yes, very good!" Atemu enthused, moving around the bound and broken Thief King. "Now. The legend of the Blade of Heliopolis is a lie, you are a worthless mortal."

"THE LEGEND OF THE BLADE OF HELIOPOLIS IS A LIE, I AM A WORTHLESS MORTAL!" Bakura repeated.

"You are a disgusting blasphemer, and spreader of lies who deserves to suffer." Atemu added.

"I AM A DISGUSTING BLASPHEMER AND SPREADER OF LIES WHO DESERVES TO SUFFER!" Bakura screeched.

"GOOD! Yes, very good! I told you I would break you. I told you you would lie at my feet before I was done." He pointed at one of the interrogators, who quickly moved forward and sliced the rope that held up the hands of the Thief King. He fell to his knees, right in front of the Pharaoh. "Didn't I tell you that?"

"Y-yes mighty Pharaoh, you did. And you have." Bakura said, quickly collapsing to a prone position out of exhaustion.

"Now." He bent down over Bakura, enjoying himself immensely. "Is there anything you would like from me?"

Bakura again swallowed down some bile. "I most humbly beg for death, almighty Pharaoh." He mumbled.

"Now now, don't leave our adoring audience out of this." Atemu chided, again gesturing his right hand out toward the masses.

"I MOST HUMBLY BEG FOR DEATH!" He screamed, tears now streaming down his face.

"And why would I ever give you that?" Atemu said impishly, left hand on his chin.

"PLEASE!" He looked up desperately at Atemu. "Please, mighty Pharaoh, please! I MOST HUMBLY BEG FOR THE HONOR OF BEING PUT TO DEATH BY YOU, MIGHTY PHARAOH!" He buried his head back into the sands in front of him, utterly defeated.

"As you wish." He looked over at his interrogators and pointed down at Bakura. "Get him down to you-know-who. She'll know exactly what to do."

They nodded, bowing before moving forward to grab the broken Thief King.

"You have failed to live up to your reputation." Atemu whispered into Bakura's ear as he was lifted up. "Your ancestors would be disappointed.

Bakura could do nothing but give a great groan as he was pulled away amidst the jeers of thousands of Egyptians.

""""

"Seto! What is this madness!" Buhen exclaimed, Seto having just walked into Buhen's courtyard. The entire palace had been surrounded by armed Egyptian soldiers, a few of them immediately shutting the iron gate behind Seto after he stepped through. "They, they won't let me leave, they-"

"That's quite enough." Seto interrupted. "We already know."

Buhen scratched his tanned bald head. "What are you talking about-"

"The Pharaoh already found out. He's already made up his mind. You playing dumb isn't going to help anything." Seto said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest, towering over the much shorter man.

Buhen looked down at the ground, licking his lips. Finally, he rose back up to face the High Priest. "I was afraid of that." He mumbled.

"I'm disappointed." Seto said grimly. "Your family has served this country for half a dozen generations."

Buhen pursed his lips, tapping his right foot.

"Do you even comprehend the magnitude of this?" Seto hissed, leaning in closer. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Hey, look, I'm sorry to let you down!" He exclaimed, holding his hands out in front of him. "I mean, who do you think you are, my-"

"Oh, gods." Seto rubbed his eyes with his right hand. "What, you think this is a joke? You think this is funny?"

"You don't get it!" Buhen threw his arms out at his sides. "Half a dozen generations, what do I got to show for it?"

"A palace." Seto answered flatly. "A position within the inner circle. A guaranteed place in the Two Fields in the afterlife."

"You wouldn't understand, you've been pegged for the High Priest position since you and Atemu were playing hide and seek back more than two decades ago." Buhen retorted. "After all my family has done for Egypt, I'm not even looked at. What about me? Maybe I'm sick of being the fifth wheel."

"You're wasting your time if you're trying to justify yourself to me." Seto said coldly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You don't get it! What was I supposed to do? This Thief King came to me, said that if I gave him a hand, he'd make me the High Priest when he was finished taking over." Buhen explained.

"Thief King Bakura is a madman. If you'd honestly help him usurp the throne, you must possess no true love for Egypt." Seto glanced up at Buhen's palace entrance.

"I don't know if you've noticed, High Priest, but there's not much of a difference anymore! That man you serve isn't the saint you imagine him to be!" Buhen pointed in the general direction of the grand palace, off into the distance to his right. "Have you been paying attention to the things he's doing? The things he's planning? I doubt the Thief King could be much worse."

"You keep telling yourself that." Seto looked out at the perimeter of guards, surrounding the palace. "Now, Pharaoh Atemu has seen it fit to grant you mercy in light of your many years of service to Egypt, as well as your family's reputation."

Buhen shrugged. "I know when I'm beaten. I pushed all my gold in the middle of the table and took a bad beat, I'll take the consequences."

"It's quite simple. The guards will all drop back to the wall perimeter. You will not be allowed to leave your palace grounds. But within your palace walls tonight, you may do as you wish. Throw yourself a little party perhaps." Seto explained.

"Well, that isn't sounding so bad." Buhen said dryly.

"Now, at sunrise tomorrow, the guards will storm your palace, go into your bedroom, and drag you to the dungeon. There, you will know the same pain the Thief King has known, and be executed in the same manner, forever marked in the afterlife for the greatest agony Anubis can inflict." Seto nodded. "Then, your name and the name of your predecessors will be wiped from the history books, made a taboo subject to ever speak of under penalty of death. We will destroy all traces that you and your family ever even existed. Everything your lineage ever did in service to Egypt, forgotten, thrown out, erased. Within a single generation of Egyptians, you will have been entirely forgotten."

Buhen grimaced, glancing down at the sands again.

"However." Seto withdrew a four inch steel knife from his belt and tossed it at the ground in front of Buhen. "However. If the guards were to go up to your bedroom, and find you have handled it yourself, that would be the end of it."

Buhen bent down, removing the blade from the desert ground. He twirled it around in his fingers, looking it over.

"Sunrise, tomorrow. If the guards go in there and find you have taken care of it, that will be the end. Your family's reputation may remain intact, your many services to the Pharaoh remembered. It may even be painless, and then you can face Anubis with a, as they say, fair trial." Seto gestured at the knife. "It's your call."

"So you want me to do your job for you?" Buhen said, putting the knife into the left lower pocket of his robes. "You want me to commit suicide?"

"It's your choice. Your choice entirely. We go up there, and find you dead, that's the end of it. If you're alive, then you will experience all the agony the Pharaoh can possibly put onto one man." Seto turned toward the gate, slowly strolling away.

"Think about it, Seto!" Buhen called after him. "Bakura, Atemu...it doesn't matter anymore!"

Seto paused for a half second, but decided to leave it be and simply beckoned for the gate to be opened for him.

""""

"Well, that's the end of that." Atemu leaned back in the chair behind his desk, hands behind his head. "Bakura should be meeting his demise any moment now."

"We'll soon find out where Buhen's priorities lay." Seto said from the other side of the wooden surface, hands in his lap, seated on the smaller chair.

Atemu heaved a deep sigh. "And soon, Greece will fall. So, all is well within my kingdom." He trailed off.

Seto nodded. "All is well." He repeated.

"Seto." Atemu tugged on the neck of his robe. "I...I am sorry for calling you here this morning." He sighed again. "There is only one course of action I think I can live with."

At that moment, as if on cue, the door to the room slid open. From the hallway emerged the muscular, tall figure of Mdjai, wearing stark white robes. He bowed low to the pair before entering.

"Take the children with you. Let her talk to them alone if she wants." Atemu instructed to the well-built man. "You know what to do after that."

Mdjai nodded, remaining silent. He was about to turn to exit, but Seto held up his palm.

"Wait." He uttered. "Pharaoh, perhaps a few more nights of considering this issue would be advisable."

"I have thought on this enough." Atemu insisted. "This is the best I can do."

"As your High Priest, I feel I would be doing you a disservice if I did not at least talk this out with you." Seto stood up, hands behind his back, holding himself up straight. "You won't be able to take this back. You won't be able to undo this."

"I know." Atemu grumbled.

"She's far removed from the palace now. She can't hurt you any more. You can simply forget about her, wipe her from your mind." Seto swallowed audibly.

"How could I ever forget her?" Atemu wondered out loud. "How could I forget how I once loved her, and what she has done to me?"

"She is still the mother of your children. She gave birth to them and raised them." Seto glanced back at Mdjai quickly before turning back to the Pharaoh.

"I know." Atemu nodded, eyes closed in thought. "I know. I have searched every fiber of my being for the will to let this go, but it's not there." His eyes started to water slightly. "You know what happened. I have thought on little else but this for the past moon, and can see no other way I can be content."

Seto slowly nodded. "Very well. I understand."

Atemu looked up and nodded at Mdjai. He turned and departed the room, shutting the door behind him.

""""

The door to Teana's bedroom slid open. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, turnd away from the door, but the squeak of the hinges prompted her to spin around.

Mdjai slowly stepped in, Teana looking him up and down. He left the door open as he took two steps in toward her. He then shuffled to the right, coming to sit down on a chair by the dresser.

"I knew he wouldn't be able to resist." Teana muttered.

"Your children are out in the kitchen." Mdjai said, hands on his knees. "Come back when you're done."

Teana gave a tiny, dry chuckle. "When I'm done." She repeated, standing up. "That's quite a way of putting it."

"I'm sorry." Mdjai looked at the ground inbetween his feet. "I don't want to do this."

"Has he told you why?" She asked, slowly stepping past him towards the bedroom door.

"N-no." He shook his head. "Please don't try to run."

"I can't run from this." Teana said, walking through the doorway. "I thought it might come to this. I'm not running."

"T-take all the time you need." Mdjai stammered.

"How courteous of you." Teana said sarcastically, shutting the large wooden panel behind her.

""""

As the black masses enveloped his body, Bakura was dimly aware of the harsh reality of his defeat. It was all he had room for in his mind, the pain had claimed monopoly on it.

He had failed. Miserably, utterly, in every way a person could fail. He had failed to live up to his family's reputation, the reputation of his title. Every last scrap of riches his lineage had ever managed to steal was now locked deep away in the Pharaoh's vaults. All of his loyal men had either been killed or had surrendered to the Pharaoh. And his life was about to be taken, a painful and humiliating execution.

But he had never thought he would give up his pride.

He recalled his words, spoken in front of all of Egypt. The humiliating way he had conducted himself, the ways in which he was willing to degrade himself just to end the pain.

He thought back on the immense pain his ancestor had once suffered, for years on end, never breaking. The story he knew so well, and had come to live his entire life by.

He had failed him. Disappointed him.

All that to live up to, and he couldn't even withstand a month's torture.

As this final cruel realization consumed him, the sea of tiny creatures not of this world did as well, pushing even this single, simple thought from his mind.

""""

"Mom!" Ammon cried as she emerged from the hallway, stepping out onto the red carpeted floor of the main living room. He and his little sister, Asenath, jumped up from the chairs and ran over to hug her lower body.

"Hey, hey." She said softly, patting the backs of both of their heads. "How's it going?"

"Good." Asenath said simply, looking up at her mother. "We miss you."

"Oh, me too." She said, moving over to the big cushioned chair in the middle of the large room. "You can't even imagine."

"I don't understand, mom." Ammon said as he pushed himself up to sit next to her. Asenath took the spot on her lap. "Dad won't tell us anything, nobody will, you just left, and-"

"It...it's a long story." She said wistfully, pulling Ammon's head against her chest. "It's...it's okay. Don't worry about it."

"When are you coming back?" Asenath asked.

Teana's lip quivered. "I don't know, sweetie." She shook her head. "I don't know."

She took in a deep breath, a lone tear streaking down her face. "Now. Talk to me about anything. Tell me everything on your minds. Let's just...talk."

""""

A dozen armed guards burst through the bronze colored door, streaming into the large room with the white thick carpet. They spread out, all eyes immediately on the brown sheeted bed on the far wall. But the bed proved to be entirely vacated of people. However, of interest were the three bottles of wine, empty and resting on the right bottom corner, along with the shards of what looked to have once been a fourth.

The lead guard wasted no time in running up to the bathroom door, kicking it open with his right foot. It swung on it's hinges violently, slamming against the inside wall of the bathroom.

Inside was your customary Egyptian bathroom. Tiled surfaces with a few designs painted on the walls, a large pot against the back right wall that piped down to somewhere underground, and a massive basin adjacent it.

That basin was filled with still-warm water, the small steam vapors rising from it evidence of that. Within that tub of water was the half-submerged body of once Priest Buhen, his head leaned back and eyes closed. Both of his arms were hanging over the edges of the tub. He was not moving.

Quickly, two of the guards burst into the room, moving to light the wall torches. One was just to the right of the door, the other opposite it.

As these lights flickered on and illuminated the room, the guards spied streaks of thick, dark red staining the tub, pooling on the floor right beneath Buhen's left hand. Quick investigation showed the other side of the tub had similar stains, the source being his right hand.

The lead guard checked to make entirely sure, grabbing his right hand and holding it up.

The wrist had been cut, a deep gash reaching into the veins, blood still oozing from the wound. He nodded in satisfaction, pressing his index and middle finger up to Buhen's neck.

"We're done here." He grunted, pointing back at the bathroom door. Immediately, the dozen guards raced out of the room in an orderly line.

""""

"Now, I want you to be good, always, alright?" Teana said softly, hugging both of her children's head close to her chest. "B-be good. Be good for...for dad, and for everyone."

"We will." Asenath answered, nodding her little head.

"Now, you guys might not be seeing me for awhile, and I'm sorry. But...I might not be around for awhile, but it'll be okay."

"I don't understand." Ammon wrinkled his forehead in thought. "Where are you going?"

"It's okay. I...I can't talk about it, but you might not see me for awhile, so just remember to be good." Teana swallowed hard, another couple tears creeping out. She stood up, setting Asenath down on the chair next to Ammon. "Now, you guys stay right there, and Mdjai will be out in a few minutes to take you back to the palace. You stay there."

They nodded. Teana bent down and gave them both a kiss on the forehead.

"Mommy loves you very much, and...and I'm so, so sorry." She choked out through tears.

"Sorry for what?" Ammon asked, his tiny fingers reaching up to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"I-i-it's my fault." She cried, wrapping her arms around their heads and hugging them one last time. 'It's my fault that half of you comes from him."

"What do you mean?" Ammon asked, distressed by her crying and starting to cry himself.

"N-nothing." She stood back up, holding her palms out towards her children. "Just stay there. Mdjai will be right back."

She turned her back on them and quickly departed the room, trying to put as much distance between them and her as she could before her emotions forced her to go see them again.

""""

Once a proud, glorious city of towering skyscrapers, majestic structures, clean streets and bustling activity, Athens was almost unrecognizable now.

Many of the buildings had been damaged, chunks of masonry and brick laying everywhere, piles of carnage strewn about. Bodies of Greek soldiers were everywhere, some in multiple pieces. The vast forces of the Egyptian army pushed forward without opposition.

The greek defenses had been shredded by great walls of flame that had torn down every street in the city, sending everyone into a chaotic retreat right off the bat. So when the actual soldiers had shown up, there was only light mopup duty remaining.

Every single Egyptian soldier was getting instant updates on everything happening in the battle, all of that information processed and neatly placed into the memory banks of their minds. A thousand miles away, a gifted little girl was facilitating such an amazing feat, making sure that every single man in the army was aware of everything that was happening, as it was happening, without distracting them from their own tasks or being completely overwhelmed by the information.

With that advantage, it was almost unfair.

A flock of fist-sized green glowing globes rocketed up and down the streets now, looking for any signs of Greek life and slamming into it with bone-crushing force. These magical spheres wreaked havoc on the last remnants of Greek defenses.

The towering, massive capital building, a shimmering white in the glow of the early sunrise, had been abandoned some time ago. But what it represented was just as valuable, and as such it had to fall. The soldiers only watched as a collection of gray rocks the size of horses rained down from the heavens, burrowing into the roof of the building, shattering the image of perfection it presented.

Mere seconds later, the structure couldn't take the abuse and simply started to collapse inwardly, a great puff of dust and debris flying in every direction as it was reduced to a pile of rubble.

Greece had fallen, now flying the flag of the Egyptian empire.

""""

Teana sat down on the edge of her bed, looking at Mdjai. He had not moved from his seat, hands still on his knees, eyes still on the ground. Teana glanced at the closed door, then turned away to face the back wall of the room, still grey and dull as it had been when she moved in.

"I'm...i'm sorry." Mdjai said, standing up.

Teana chose to lay down on her mattress, back still turned to Mdjai. "Let's get this over with."

"I don't want to do this." He insisted, slowly walking towards her, pulling a sharp, bronze, six inch blade from a loop on his belt. "Please, forgive me. I don't have a choice."

"Stop blubbering and do your job." She said, eyes glazed over as she stared at the wall.

Mdjai took in a deep breath, standing over her prone body. "Please forgive me."

She looked over her shoulder, up at the Pharaoh's assassin. "Do you want me to do it for you?"

"...s-sorry." He swallowed hard, holding the blade up, pointy end directed at her back.

She turned back over, closing her eyes, taking in a breath.

He lunged forward, the dagger easily sliding through her back, into her heart, and back out through her chest. She gasped, the breath expelling from her lungs as she rested her head on the cushion, a circle of blood forming on her back and on her chest. The stain crept out from her chest onto the bed.

Her body, stiffened from the sensation, relaxed and simply rolled over onto her stomach.

Mdjai tore his eyes away from the scene, then went over to the dresser, sweeping the contents of it off with his arms, sending them to the floor randomly and haphazardly.

""""

Mdjai went down on one knee as soon as he entered the room, Atemu's eyes on him from the opposite end, still seated behind the desk, arms on the armrests and an unreadable expression on his face. Seto turned to face him as well, standing at the side of the desk with his hands behind his back.

"It's done, mighty Pharaoh." He rasped. "The authorities will be arriving soon and will label it a robbery gone wrong."

Atemu nodded, closing his eyes in thought.

No one spoke for several long seconds, Atemu's face twitching slightly.

"No one will know." Atemu finally spoke, his voice throaty and quiet. "Both of you. Tell no one. Knowledge of this act will die with the three of us. Understood?"

"I will never speak a word of any of this." Mdjai assured him, getting up from his kneeling position.

"It will never leave this room." Seto concurred.

Atemu waved his right hand toward Mdjai, who quickly ducked back out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

The Pharaoh immediately stood up, stepping past Seto and crossing the short distance to the other half of his bedroom. He pushed the door open, Seto on his heels as he walked heavily towards the desk chair to the right of the entrance.

"I offer my congratulations for your many victories today, mighty Pharaoh." Seto said, crossing his right arm across his chest and bowing slightly. Atemu ignored him, pulling the chair out, pointing it toward the far left wall, and taking a seat on it.

Flustered, Seto collected himself and tried again. "Y-your defeat of the Thief King and the crushing of Athens has been a most wonderful reminder of your power."

Atemu crossed his right left over his left knee, simply looking at the far wall, his face blank.

"And your-"

"Seto." Atemu said strongly, ending Seto's compliment. "I'd like to be alone."

"Y-yes sir. Of course." Seto again bowed, slowly backing out of the room. He stared at Atemu for a minute from the work room, door in his hands, ready to close it, concern written on his face. Atemu did not turn to look at him or given him any acknowledgement, so he simply eased the door shut.

Atemu took another deep breath, still glaring at the far wall, placing his arms on the armrests of the chair.

For the first time, he felt truly alone.

His father long gone and now his mother passed on.

His own wife turning on him.

One of his most trusted advisors scheming to murder him. Another the victim of the Thief King.

Even in those who remained loyal, he could see the fear in their hearts.

Even his High Priest now interacted with him with trepidation.

There was nothing left. It was just him.

Just The Pharaoh.

""""

THE END

This story will conclude in the near future with the final installment into the trilogy, The Pharaoh Part III.


End file.
